Fire of Unknown Origin
by Miss Daphne Hart
Summary: Following a rather difficult case the Winchesters must bring a new person along for the ride. Of course, as it usually happens, nothing is as it seems. How may this new presence effect the Winchesters' lives? Could they possibly ever be the same?
1. Pretty Girls Make Graves

This is a fictional story based on the popular television show Supernatural. The characters of Sam and Dean Winchester, along with Castiel, are products of the brilliant mind of Eric Kripke. As is the base story line of two rouge brothers on a cross-country road trip, hunting monsters/demons/anything that needs to be taken care of/etc. and befriending odd angels. However, all new characters introduced in this story including, but not limited to Quinn Gibson, Blair Francis, and Roxanne Loraine, are products of my own imagination and creation; as well as the added story line. I do claim and reserve my rights to these new ideas. All characters are fictional. Any relation to another person, character, or story line are purely coincidental.

I also kindly ask that any and all criticisms remain positive and/or constructive. About a decade ago I had a really bad experience when my friend read my work and this is the first time anyone is reading anything of mine besides scholastic papers.

Now that all of that is over, please enjoy my story.

* * *

Deep in a shady little alcove on the edge of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, nestled between a specialty store for dogs and a recently closed bank, sat Roughnecks. The name itself conjures up images of ruffians and thugs, however Roughnecks is not nearly as harsh as it would seem. Rather it resembles an establishment more akin to a tame version of a road house. One where everything looks dated and kitschy, but it's brand new and people are encouraged to throw peanut shells on the floor.

On this particular evening it was loud, crowded, and alcohol was flowing; perfect Friday night business. A popular local band had just finished their set and their presence caused a larger crowd than usual. Since the band was done the patrons began to really cut loose; classic rock was blaring through the speakers and yet it could barely be heard over the sound of consistent chatter. Squished into together in a back corner booth sat four friends. For them this was just another guys night out after a long work week. Three of the four left the booth to replenish their beverages, even though they were a few beers in they showed no signs of slowing down soon.

Sitting quietly at the bar, a woman watched as the lone was left to guard their spot. With the others gone she made her way through the thick crowd to the back booth and stopped at the friends' table.

"Hey there handsome." She purred as she placed her hand on the end of the bench the man was sitting in.

"Why hello there." The lone friend replied, trying to sound suave as he gave her a not-so-discrete once over. He was enjoying what he saw, blonde hair, dark eyes, stilettos and a clingy little black dress with a plunging neckline. Not the type of woman he expected to see here. "What's your name?"

A cut yet devilish grin crossed her face, "Sheila."

"Mike." He told her without her having to ask.

I'm happy all your buddies left, see I've been watching you from the bar for a little while now."

"Oh really?" Mike was intrigued by this statement. Normally he was the one hitting on anything in a dress, but in a case like this, he's find with the shoe being on the other foot.

"Yeah, just waiting for the moment when I could get you alone."

"Then I should have sent them away for drinks sooner." He smirked.

Sheila let out a half-hearted giggle and Mike totally bought it. This moment was caught by one of his friends, who was walking back towards the booth with two beers in hand. Once he realized that Mike was conversing successfully with this attractive woman, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"I don't mean to be forward." Sheila said and leaned over the edge of the table, just close enough so only Mike could hear her whisper. "But do you wanna get out of here?"

Mike quickly looked behind her to his friend, who nodded in approval, and then he turned his attention back to Sheila. "Yeah, why don't we head back to my place."

"Actually I'm here on business and my hotel is just a block away."

"Ever better." Mike smiled, knowing that this was going to be a night of fun with no strings attached.

Before leaving Mike threw some money down on the table for his share of the drinks. Walking through the heavily intoxicated crowd he wrapped his arm around Sheila, who in turn snuggled up to his chest. At the end of the block they had to stop for traffic at a crosswalk, Sheila took this chance to share a passionate and heated kiss with Mike. When the light changed and they got the go-ahead to cross the street, the couple basically sprinted the next block to Sheila's motel.

Inside the hotel Mike and Sheila could barely keep their hands off of one another and the journey from the lobby to Sheila's door felt like an eternity. While Sheila fumbled with the key Mike had his arms around her waist and was kissing her neck. (Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty) As they opened the door and tumbled into her hotel room, they were completely engulfed in each other. Making their way through the room and to the bed they tipped over a chair, knocked a lamp off an end table, it was blissful chaos. Sheila pushed Mike onto the bed and in one swift motion yanked open his shirt, buttons scattering to the floor. Mike seemed to be getting a little uncomfortable as Sheila forcefully started to kiss his neck, he liked the passion, but the rough stuff really isn't his thing.

"Maybe we should take it down, just a notch." Mike requested as he pushed Sheila away for a moment.

"Oh no baby, we're just getting started." She said and starred into Mike's eyes.

Seconds later her eyes turned a hellish red and she let out an evil laugh. Mike's face grew pale and filled with fear as he opened his mouth to speak, but Sheila pressed her lips to his, effectively preventing any protest. In the final moments of his life Mike let out a blood curdling scream that shook the night.

Night faded into morning and police began to infiltrate the hotel room after receiving a frantic call from an unsettled hotel maid. All the police were baffled as to what happened to this man and who the suspect may be, they didn't have any answers.

Dressed in their best cheap suits with false FBI identification badges in hand, Sam and Dean approached the crowded hotel room. When they heard about this one, they knew that it was something they had to see. One of the officers recognized them lifted the yellow tape and let them through to the crime scene. On the surface it looked like many other rooms where a brutal murder had recently taken place; broken lamp, artwork on the floor, disheveled bedding, the works. Underneath that initial layer were pieces that didn't seem to fit together just right, mainly the complete lack of blood.

"It's just like the other ones." The lead detective informed Sam and Dean as he walked them through the room.

"Did you already move the victim to the morgue?" Sam asked.

"Yes, about twenty minutes ago."

"And there were no wounds, burns, anything like that?"

"Well, we found him with another weird necklace." The detective answered with a shrug. "Other than that, nothing."

Dean stepped away from the two to get a closer look at the bed, where a hotel maid found the body a couple hours prior. Like everything else, there was anything too strange about this. Frustrated he searched the area surrounding the bed, trying to find evidence of whoever or whatever was here. Much to his dismay, there was no evidence to be found.

"We were told that they're going to run tox-screens, but I would bet that it's going to come up just like the others." The detective told Sam."

"And no one saw anything?" Dean asked as he walked back over to them.

"All that we know is that he was at a bar with a few of his buddies last night and one said that he left with a woman, but he never saw her face. Then a woman walks into a hotel with this man." The detective answered. "This one is a real head scratcher."

"You're telling me." Dean said. "And the room is checked out to a woman, right?"

"Yup, checked out to one Emily Brontë."

Sam chuckled, "So either a nineteenth century author was here last night or…"

"They're using aliases."

"Great." Sam said, followed by a heavy breath. "Do you mind giving us the room? We need to take pictures, make sure everything is documented."

"Of course." The detective answered and turned to the other officers. "Clear out, give these agents their space."

All of the officers left the room, leaving Sam and Dean to their own devices. Sam scanned the room with an EMF detector while Dean searched high and low for anything that might point to what this thing might be. Though like the other cases before this one, nothing came up. Disheartened they left the hotel room and the police officers took over once more.

"Well, that was a bust." Dean told Sam as they excited the hotel.

"Dean, we've been at this for a week and we haven't found anything yet." Sam said as they approached the Impala. "I'm starting to wonder if we should let this one go."

"There's something here Sammy, the things that are going on, it isn't normal." Dean said as they both got into his car. "Guys in their twenties don't just drop dead one after the other."

"We've looked at all of the information available to us and it's gotten us nowhere." Sam said. "I think if we're going to continue on with this case, we're gonna need some help."

Dean sighed, "Who do we ask for help? Because the only people I can think of are dead."

"Well, I was talking to Garth…"

"Garth?" Dean asked, surprised by Sam's reply. "I thought we were going to let him live his weird little werewolf life."

"It's not Garth, but someone I heard about from Garth." Sam answered, knowing that this answer still won't make his brother happy. "Gibson something."

"Gibson something, that's just great." Dean said, only to cave within a matter of seconds. "How do we get in contact with…whoever that is?"

"I can call Garth, see if he still knows them."

There are two reasons Dean didn't like this; one, Garth's out of the game, and two, Dean does not always like working with new people, "Great, so we're getting help from some stranger that may or may not be real?"

Sam glared at his brother, "They're real, Dean. But from what I remember, it sounds like they're just about as hard to find as we are, if not harder."

"Super." Dean said in a quiet sarcastic tone.

Even though Dean didn't actually consent, Sam pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, completely ignoring his stubborn brother. Scrolling through the contacts he came to Garth's name and pushed the call button. It rang a couple times and finally there was a click on the other end.

"Hello." Garth answered sleepily.

"Hey Garth, it's Sam."

"Oh hey Sam, it's been a while."

"Yeah it has." Sam said. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"No, no, just taking a little power nap."

"Okay, then I have a question for you."

"Ask away."

"So Dean and I are working this strange case in Cedar Rapids and neither of us can come up with any sort of answers as to what the thing killing people might be." Sam took Garth's silence as a sign to continue on, "Anyway, we were discussing what to do and I don't know if you remember someone you told me about that helped you on a complex case, I think it was Gibson something. Does that ring a bell?"

"Yeah, Quinn Gibson." Garth yawned.

"Quinn Gibson, that was it." Sam said. "Are you two still in contact with one another?"

"Let me see what I can rustle up."

"Thanks Garth."

"No problem." Garth said and hung up the phone at the same time as Sam.

Dean quickly looked over to Sam, "Good news?"

"Gath's going to call us back in a minute." Sam answered and started to look through the few pictures that he snapped of the crime scene.

"Alright, so tell me then, what is this person going to know that we don't?"

"I'm not sure, but they come highly recommended."

"Yeah, by Garth."

"I thought you were okay with Garth." Sam said and looked from his phone to his brother.

"He's a good kid, don't get me wrong. I just don't know if we should trust him with something this critical." Right at that moment Sam's phone started to ring. "Speak of the devil."

"Give it a chance Dean, we don't have anything to lose."

"Yeah, well we might not have much to gain either." Dean said, shifting his focus back to the road.

With a roll of his eyes Sam answered his phone, "Hey Garth, good news?"

"Very good news." Garth answered, Sam could hear the pep in his voice. "Quinn just happens to be in Cedar Rapids right now and would like to meet with you."

"Great, thanks Garth."

"No problem, I will text you the address in a minute."

"Thanks." Sam said and hung up the phone, knowing that luck or a miracle were pretty much their only options. As promised there was a text from Garth on Sam's phone a few seconds later and it was Quinn's address.

"I'm guessing that's how we get in touch with Quinn." Dean said putting an emphasis on the person's name.

"Yeah." Sam answered as he searched for the address on his phone. "Quinn's here actually, the address looks like it's right by where the last murder was."

Dean pulled a quick U-turn and followed the road back to where they had just been. Sam silently flipped through various papers, trying to dig up something useful pertaining to this case; something that connects the victims, some sort of hint to what they're hunting, anything would help right now. Of all the various notes they've looked through, nothing they found was similar to this. The only thing that seems to be a concurrent theme is the matter in which all of the victims were murdered and a weird necklace left around each one's neck. Although that didn't turn out to be much, it's just a crude carving of a nearly nude woman. More akin to the calling card of a serial killer, not something paranormal. In some ways this case seemed similar to the Amazon one, but there was no symbol and men weren't being. That is one of the most frustrating aspects of the case, Sam and Dean have hit roadblocks and snags in investigations before, but it has never been this difficult, nor has it been to the same extent.

Within a matter of a few minutes they pulled into the parking lot of a nice, yet modest looking apartment complex. Choosing a spot right next to a dark cherry red '70 Volkswagen Beetle. Dean let out a small chuckle as he looked at the car, it's clean, but it's still a Beetle.

"I think this is the place." Sam said as he glanced towards the building and put the papers away.

"I'm still not sold on this whole thing." Dean said as they got out of the car and he starred up at the upper floors of the building, trying to figure out just what put him on edge.

"Like I said, just give it a chance."

They walked up the stairs to Quinn's apartment, number 347. Sam knocked on the door and they could hear some sort of commotion on the other side.

A young woman wearing jeans and a well-worn Blue Oyster Cult t-shirt opened the door and smiled at the sight of the brothers, "Sam and Dean Winchester, I was wondering when you two would eventually darken my doorway."

Neither of them said anything, rather they just starred for a moment, taken a little off-guard by the fact that it seems like she already knows who they are.

Of course, Dean broke that little bit of tension by turning on his usual charm, "Why hello there."

Sam gave Dean a look, subtly trying to tell him to take it down a notch or two. "Are you Quinn Gibson?"

"The one and only." She answered with yet another smile.

"We uh, heard about you through Garth."

"Say no more, come on." She said and stepped aside, allowing the guys to enter her home. "He told me that I was going to get some visitors today, but he didn't tell me it was going to be you two."

"Is that good or bad?" Sam asked.

"Depends, what do you want?" She asked as they all stood in her entry way.

"We need help."

"Well, I didn't think that you came over just to chat." Quinn said sarcastically as she walked away from them and into her kitchen. "So, you heard about me through Garth?"

"Yeah, your name came up in passing." Sam answered as he and Dean walked around the apartment, looking at the pictures on the walls, the large quantity of books littering her shelves; seeing if they could figure her out to some extent. "Did you hear about us from Garth too?"

"Garth has mentioned that he knows the Winchesters." Quinn told them as she came back into the living room, holding a bottle of brown liquor and three glasses. "Of course you're also kind of legendary since you did start and stop the freaking apocalypse."

"Why does everybody always gotta that up?" Dean whispered to Sam.

"Calm down and take a seat." Quinn said as she motioned to the nearby couch and set the objects in her hands on the coffee table. "Listen, it's my job to try to understand the strange and unusual and it doesn't get much stranger or more unusual than that. Besides, you two are practically the poster boys for everything strange."

"Can't really argue with that." Sam told Dean.

Dean didn't retort, instead he just shot Sam a heated glare as they sat down on the couch.

"You two want something to drink?" Quinn asked.

"No, I think we're fine for now." Sam answered.

"So tell me, what is it that you need help with?" Quinn asked as she sat down in a chair across from them.

"We've been hunting this thing for a week and we have nothing to go off of."

"Dude!" Dean said and smacked Sam's arm.

"What?" Sam asked.

"We don't even know who this chick is and you're spilling everything the moment we walk in the door." Dean whispered.

"You two need a moment?" Quinn asked.

"If you don't mind." Dean answered with a fake smile.

She left them and went back into the kitchen, which wasn't completely closed off from the living room, but it was just far enough away that she wouldn't be able to hear their conversation, as long as they kept it quiet.

Sam let out a heavy sigh, "Dean, be nice."

"I am nice."

"A minute ago you wanted to toss this girl into bed and now anything we say might be too much information?" Sam asked. "She's Garth's contact, I think we can tell her what's going on."

"I just, I don't trust this Sam."

Sam threw his hands in the air and turned forward away from Dean, this conversation is going nowhere. Knowing his thick-headed brother, it was no use trying to convince him of anything otherwise.

"Sorry, if I may interject." Quinn said as she came back into the room and started to pour the whiskey into the three glasses, handing two to the brothers.

"By all means." Dean said, surprisingly able to be more sarcastic than he was previously.

"I get it, you not trusting me." She said as she sat back down in her chair and drank. "I wouldn't trust me either. You know nothing about me beyond the fact that I know Garth. You have no idea what I could be up to. Though like Sam said, you don't know what you're up against and you probably need my help."

"Oh really?" Dean asked. "Then tell me, what do you know about this thing?"

"You're working that case about the nine guys who've turned up dead, right?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah."

"All of the victims were male, in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties, and they all just kind of dropped dead." Quinn answered. "No signs of blood, nothing that would point to a heart attack or stroke. But inside their organs and tissue resembled that of someone in their eighties, roughly. Like they died of old age, but just on the inside."

"Well, you're on par with us."

"If you two know anything else, that would be great because I haven't seen the bodies and can only go off of what I've seen on the news or read about in the papers and my general assumptions."

"There have been these weird necklaces found with each body and when family members or friends are questioned they had never known any of the victims to own a piece of jewelry like that." Sam answered.

"See, that is really important." Quinn said as she got up and walked away from the brothers. She went into her bedroom and quickly dug around in a dresser drawer, pulling out a small wooden box. Then walked back out to the boys. "It's also the sort of thing that they don't put on the news."

"That's why we thought it was strange, besides the way in which they were murdered, this was the only other thing connecting all of the victims." Sam said.

Quinn opened the small wooden box and pulled out a necklace, then tossed it to Sam. As Sam turned the necklace over in his hand he saw that there was a similar crude carved woman as a charm.

"This is the same thing." Sam said as he handed the necklace to Dean.

"But from what we could tell, it's nothing too bad." Dean said as he looked at the pendant.

"Under most circumstances, but it has a hidden message." Quinn said, her demeanor changing from the nice and fun girl who let them into her home to someone who is a little more serious. "To outsiders it's just a weird necklace with a strange almost naked lady."

"Yeah, that's about as far as we got." Sam said.

"Okay, that's what you're supposed to know." Quinn said. "When this totem is used by a secret and ancient group, it is detrimental."

"What group?" Sam asked.

"Succubus and incubus."

Both Sam and Dean began to laugh, but Quinn obviously didn't see the humor in any of this.

"What?" She asked.

"Those don't exist." Dean answered. "For all of the crap that we've seen, all the demons that we've fought, nothing has ever pointed to the existence of either of those."

"Well, it's also tough to tell that angels exist, but we all know that they do." Quinn said. "Groups like this, they don't want the knowledge of their existence out there. Secrecy is a number one priority, because without it they cannot survive."

"Then how'd you get that?" Sam asked, motioning towards the necklace that Dean was still holding.

"Took it off one in England."

"How did you get to one?" Sam asked. "I mean, if they're so difficult to find."

"You don't want to know." She answered. "Guys, I know some of the things that you've been up against, the fact that you have both literally been through hell; but this, this is something that you don't want to mess with."

Dean scoffed, "What could this thing do to us?"

"For starters, it can take your life within a matter of seconds."

"Yeah, well a gun can do that."

"No, this is different." Quinn said. "If a person is given one of these necklaces they are bound to the succubus that gave it to them, unless that succubus dies. In that binding, they can do whatever they want to the soul of that person, even if they're dead."

"That doesn't sound…" Dean started to say.

Quinn stopped him, "It's real, trust me."

This new development made Dean and Sam more uncomfortable, but they knew that they couldn't back down now. If this is the thing that they have been tracking for a week, they need to see it through to the end.

"Alright, so what, we have one of these things in town?" Dean asked.

"More than one." Quinn answered. "There are a lot more out there than you might think, though most of them are discrete and cover up their tracks when they go too far and accidently kill someone. Something like this, it's probably just one or two that have gotten out of hand."

"So, we kill it?" Dean asked.

"What part of 'you don't want to mess with this' is not getting through to you?"

"We're part of this now, we've been tracking this thing for a week, it's hurting innocent people, and we need to stop it."

Normally Sam would be the first to second-guess a situation like this, especially one in which Dean is so adamant to kill something, but he this time he found himself agreeing with his brother. Silently the three sat there as they had a quiet battle with one another on what the next step should be.

"I am completely against this, but I give in, you can help." Quinn said and let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through her hair. "Don't ever say I didn't warn you two."

"Great." Dean said and clasped his hands together. "How do we kill this thing?"

"That's kind of complicated, succubus have one foot in the demon world and one foot in the creature-slash-monster world." She answered. "They're born, so you can't exorcise them like demon, holy water and salt don't work either; they do share a demon's incompatibility with iron though."

"Alright, we find the thing and shoot it with iron rounds."

"Yeah, but the tricky part is going to be finding them."

"We get that."

"Is there a way to track it?" Sam asked.

"Research the area, all the victim info." Quinn answered. "It's kind of like piecing together a puzzle."

"I hate puzzles." Dean said.

"Do you have all the victim info?" Quinn asked.

"Most of it." Sam answered. "But it's all back at the hotel."

"Why don't you two go get all that and I'll work on a few things back here."

"Alright, we'll be back then." Sam said as he and Dean got up to leave.

"If you need anything, give us a call." Dean said as he left a card with his cell phone number on her coffee table.

"Thanks, see you in a little bit I guess." Quinn said as she showed them out.

The brothers walked back to the car in silence. Sam pulled some of the files out of the backseat and began to make note of some of the important information.

"I like her." Dean said as he pulled out of the parking lot. His feelings about this girl were everywhere, but she's quickly beginning to grow on him.

"Of course you do, you like any woman with a pulse." Sam said without looking up from the files.

Dean shrugged, "I think I might…"

Sam stopped his research, "Dean, I know what you're thinking, stop."

"What?" Dean asked, not entirely sure on what he was doing wrong.

"Dean." Sam said sternly.

"Sam." Dean said, mimicking him.

"Dean." Sam said one more time in the same voice. "Do not sleep with this girl. We need her now and we may need her again at some point down the line."

"Come on Sam, what's wrong with it?"

"Um, you never follow through on that kind of thing and I'm sure that it would only end badly."

Shaking the thought from his head, Dean chose not to humor Sam, for now. "Why do you keep picking over the files? There's nothing in there that we don't already know."

"I'm marking things down that we might need later." Sam answered as he kept on doing his little job. "Also anything that might give Quinn any clues."

"Of course." Dean said under his breath, Sam has always been and always will be a nerd in Dean's eyes.

Nearing their motel, Sam's cell phone rang. While Sam took the call, Dean ran inside, grabbing all of the files and information that he could scrounge up on the case. Sam was still on the phone as Dean neared the car, arms full with paperwork.

"Thank you, we will drop by and pay Mr. Everton a visit." Sam said before hanging up the phone.

"Who was that?" Dean asked, dropping all of the files on the backseat.

"Officer Billings, he said that a friend of the victim is free to talk to." Sam said and handed Dean a small piece of paper with an address on it. "His name is Chris Everton and they say he was the last one to see Mike alive."

"Think we should stop by before we see Quinn?"

"I think it's worth a shot." Sam answered as his brother drove away from the motel.

The Impala rolled to a stop in front of a small, somewhat dilapidated, house. It's in need of a fresh coat of paint, there's a recliner on the front porch, and the grass is tall enough to hide small wild animals; there isn't much room to judge though, the Winchesters have stayed in a lot worse. Dean opened the screen door and pounded on the inner door, which was opened by a sloppy intoxicated man in a bathrobe.

"What in the hell do you two want?" The man asked, slightly swaying side to side.

"Hello I'm agent Vedder and this is my partner agent McCready." Dean answered, both he and Sam presented their badges. "Is Chris Everton home?"

"You're looking at him." The man answered and took a swig from his beer.

"We're with the FBI and we have a couple questions about your friend Mike."

"You don't look like feds."

"We're undercover." Dean said.

"I already told the cops everything." Chris slurred.

"We're looking into things from a different angle and we just want to make sure that we have all the necessary information." Sam said.

"Alright, come on in." Chris said, leading Sam and Dean into his home.

Right away they were hit with a rather unpleasant odor. Overall the house wasn't too unkempt, but it smelled like body-odor and about two weeks' worth of garbage. As they walked Chris tossed his bottle towards a trashcan, but it just ended up breaking against the wall near said trashcan. Sam and Dean exchanged glances, this dude was a mess.

Chris sat down in a recliner in the living room and pulled a can of cheap beer out of the small cooler next to him. "So, what would you two like to know?"

"Just start from around the time that Mike left." Sam answered.

"Either of you want a beer?" Chris asked. Both shook their heads, even Dean, who rarely ever turns down a drink. "Well, it was Friday, so we went out to the bar, pretty typical. Mike's girlfriend just left him and we were hoping that maybe he'd find a good rebound."

"We?"

"Yeah, me, Aaron, and Patrick." Chris answered. "Anyway, we get up to get more beer and Mike hangs back at the booth to save our place. When I walked back over, there was some woman standing there and talking to him. Of course, when a hot girl is talking to your buddy, you don't interrupt that."

"Yeah, otherwise you're a dick." Dean said aloud without thinking.

Sam elbowed his brother in the ribs, Dean's smile faded into his serious face. Then, as Chris thought about those last few moments he saw his friend alive, his eyes started to water.

"What happened after that Chris?" Sam questioned in his empathetic voice.

"He looked over her shoulder at me, seeking my approval." Chris answered, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "I nodded, because like I said, I wanted him to get a good rebound."

"Can you describe this woman for us?" Dean asked.

"She had blonde hair, was a little bit curvy, and she was wearing a black dress and some heels." Chris answered.

"And you didn't see her face?" Sam asked.

"No, she was looking at him the whole time when they walked out of the bar."

"Did you get a name? Anything?"

"No, nothing else."

"Did your friends see her?"

"Nope, they were both still at the bar getting drinks. By the time they got back Mike was gone with the woman."

"Is that it?"

"That's all I know."

"Well, thank you for your time."

"Yeah, thanks." Dean said.

"No problem." Chris said.

Sam and Dean stood up and left the dingy little house. Since it seems like the other two friends didn't see anything, the brothers had hit another dead end. Their only clue is a somewhat curvy woman with blonde hair. This lead is not as good as it may appear, it doesn't narrow down the search all that much.

"I'm gonna give Quinn a call." Dean said as the pair stood outside of the Impala.

"I can give her a call." Sam said.

"Already have my phone out." Dean said as he punched in the numbers.

After one ring Quinn picked up, "Hello."

"Hey Quinn, it's Dean."

"One second, I just need to put something in the oven." Quinn said. Dean stayed on the phone while he waited for Quinn to get back on. "What took you two so long, I was expecting you back by now?"

"We talked to a witness, but we should be by shortly."

"Okay, I just finished making lunch." She said. "You two can eat and work, right?"

"Of course we can." Dean said. "We'll be at your place in a few minutes."

"See you then, bye."

"Bye." Dean said and hung up the phone.

"You do know that we're going to give whatever information we have on this case to Quinn, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I know." Dean answered.

"Because earlier you didn't want to tell her anything."

"Can we just chalk this one up to me coming to my senses and be done with it?"

"As long as you don't go back into that apartment and start hating her again."

Back at the apartment complex Dean took the parking spot next to the Beetle again. Before walking up to Quinn's apartment they gathered everything out of the backseat. Since Quinn was expecting them she left her door open a crack and when they arrived Dean pushed it open with his foot.

"Quinn, it's Dean and Sam." The elder Winchester announced as they walked in.

"Hey guys." Quinn said as she came out from her bedroom with a couple older books. "Sorry, I keep all of the really good stuff in back."

"We brought everything we have too."

"Great, you two want some lunch before we get going on all of this?" Quinn asked. "I mean we could order in, I could whip up some quick sandwiches or something."

"Sandwiches are fine."

"Alright, I'll put something together quick." Quinn said as she walked towards the kitchen, then looked over her shoulder to the guys. "And I hope you like pie, because I make a raspberry pie that'll knock your socks off."

Dean smiled, "Oh, I'm sure it will."

In typical brotherly fashion Sam nudged Dean's foot and Dean nudged back in retaliation. While they laid out the information they brought with them Sam found himself wondering if Dean will ever be able to find some sort of happy medium with Quinn; he certainly doesn't want Dean to hate this girl, but he doesn't exactly want him jumping into bed with her either. So far Quinn seems like a good resource and Sam doesn't want to lose that, but he also knows his brother well enough to understand what could happen between the two.

"So, what did you two get from the victim's friend?" Quinn asked from the kitchen while she made lunch.

"Not much, the woman we think is doing this is blonde, average height, somewhat curvy." Sam answered as he looked through his papers. Then he glanced to the book that Quinn left open on the table, which appeared to be written in Latin, along with the text on the spines of the books next to it. "Are these in Latin?"

"Like I said." Quinn answered, walking into the room with two plates for the boys and one for her. "I keep all the good stuff in the back."

While they ate lunch, the trio skimmed through every piece of paperwork, hoping to find something worthwhile. Every once in a while Quinn would get up and grab another book. A few hours had passed and they had a little bit more to work off of, but still not enough to pinpoint who was doing all of this. All of this research did bring about a couple important pieces of information, this is indeed a succubus and they might know the next couple places she could strike. Just as they finished their research and were putting all of Sam and Dean's paperwork back together, Quinn's home phone began to ring, she jumped out of her seat and ran into the kitchen to answer it.

"Quinn Gibson." She answered and paused for a moment. "Great, I will be there in a few minutes, bye."

"Who was that?" Dean asked as he watched Quinn walk back into the living room.

"It's a private source and they want to meet right now." Quinn answered as she put on a jacket from the hall closet. "So, why don't each of you hit one of the locations on the list, see if you spot anything."

"Are you sure you'll be okay doing this alone?"

"I know this source, but they keep busy and having a meeting alone doesn't happen too often." Quinn answered as they went to the door.

"Okay, but if you need anything or if you need anything, don't hesitate to call."

"Thanks." Quinn said, locking her front door.

They all walked down the nearby stairs together, the brothers went to the Impala and Quinn went to the Beetle parked next to them.

Dean chuckled, "That's your car?"

"What's wrong with my car?" Quinn asked.

"It's a Beetle."

"I like it."

"What's your top speed on that thing?"

"None of your damn business, that's the top speed." Quinn quipped with a grin.

Surpassingly Dean found himself smiling too as he got in the Impala with Sam, he thought the reply was funny; hell, he would have said the same thing or something similar. For a moment as she started her car, Quinn thought about Dean too and not in a plutonic way. Watching him drive off she pushed the thought out of her mind and followed the Impala until she had to diverge to get on the street where her source lived.

The brothers pulled into town and went their separate ways to scope out various bars. Meanwhile Quinn pulled into the driveway of a stately looking home. Before Quinn even made it onto the porch a butler opened the front door.

"Ms. Loraine is in her study." He told Quinn as she crossed the threshold.

"Thanks." Quinn said and followed the hall down to the study, knocking on the door, which was open just a crack.

"Quinn, come in." A woman said with a slight French accent.

"Hello Roxanne." Quinn said as she and the woman hugged.

"So, what is it that you need help with?"

"Have you heard about the murders recently?" Quinn asked, getting right down to business.

"No, I don't follow the news, it is too depressing."

"Well, there have been a number of murders and all signs point to it being one or two of your own."

"That's ridiculous, they all know that we do not kill." Roxanne said as her butler brought her a drink. "They may be okay with that in other areas, but we do not do that here."

"Are you keeping tabs on everyone?"

"Of course I am, what kind of person do you take me for?" Quinn tried her best to hold in a small laugh, person. "My girls would never do this and I know William doesn't let his boys do it either."

"Someone is out there killing men and it's starting to become more conspicuous." Quinn said, getting a little flustered. "They're leaving bodies, witnesses, and working off the grid; it's a mess."

"No, no, that cannot be." Roxanne said. "I'm sorry Quinn, but you're wrong about this one."

Quinn pulled some photographs out of her purse, they were all images of the necklaces found with the victims and passed them over to Roxanne. Flipping through the photos made Roxanne sick to her stomach.

"Those were found with all of the victims, we both know what that means." Quinn told Roxanne.

"This cannot be one of mine." Roxanne said, handing Quinn the photos. "I never told any of my girls about binding, they would not know how to do it."

"Have any of them done any sort of traveling lately, especially to Europe?" Quinn asked. In Europe most follow an older code, they work swiftly at night, they can go wherever, whenever, and it doesn't matter if they kill.

"One and you are not going to like it."

"Who is it?" Quinn asked. "I need to know."

"Blair Francis, she just got back about two weeks ago."

"Blair?" Quinn asked. "Blair wouldn't do this."

"She is the only one I could think of that might have this knowledge and there haven't been any registered visitors here." Roxanne answered. "I am so sorry Quinn."

"It's alright, I need to talk to Blair." Quinn said, getting up to leave. "Thanks for the info, Roxanne."

"You did not hear any of this from me."

"Oh, I know." Quinn said and left the house.

Back in the main stretch of town Sam was waiting alone at the bar, there was a woman he had been watching for some time. She was around average height, a little curvy, blonde hair, and had been chatting with a lone man since he walked in. Sam kept hoping that the guy would get up to go to the bathroom or something, just so he could get this woman alone. After a few more minutes, the man and woman both stood up and made their way towards the front door.

Trying to be as stealthy as possible, Sam followed them out the door. When he finally got outside he looked to his right and saw the couple getting into a taxi. Right before she got into the cab the woman locked eyes with Sam. Watching them drive away he felt a little bit violated, but he couldn't think about it, instead he followed the plan and phoned Dean.

"Yeah." Dean answered after a couple rings.

"I think I saw her leave with some guy." Sam said.

"Which way did they go?"

"North on this street in a cab."

"I'm going to swing by, pick you up, and we'll follow them."

"Okay." Sam said and hung up the phone.

Dean promptly left his bar, hopped into the Impala, and picked up his brother down the street. Even though they have no real way of knowing which way the cab went, they went north, hoping that they would eventually see something. As usual, luck was not on their side and they couldn't find the cab. They hated knowing that someone died on their watch, but there wasn't much they could do. There was no way to tell where this cab took these people, Sam never got a number off of the cab, so that was it. Instead of fretting over it, they went back to their motel to look over their notes.

Against her better judgment, Quinn went to Blair's house and was intent on questioning Blair about her whereabouts. Quinn wanted to believe that her best friend was innocent, but certain things didn't make sense; when Quinn found that Blair wasn't home when she arrived at ten-thirty at night, her concern grew. It didn't stop Quinn though, she was set on finding out the truth, so she waited on the porch for Blair and looked over some of the case files. For the most part she hoped that Blair wasn't the one doing this; Blair is a brunette, so she doesn't entirely fit the basic description, however hair color is one of the easiest things to change. Deep down Quinn had a sinking feeling that it was Blair, she's always known that Blair is a succubus and recently she began to find their code of ethics idiotic and she was breaking away from her group. Honestly she wouldn't be surprised to find out that Blair was the one doing all of this, but she didn't want it to be true.

Around eleven o'clock Blair walked up her front steps, surprised to see her best friend waiting for her, "Hey Quinn, what are you doing here?"

"Blair, we need to talk." Quinn answered, shoving the case files into her purse.

"Alright, come on in." Blair said as she opened the front door. "Do you want some tea, coffee, beer?"

"Tea would be fantastic." Quinn answered, she stayed in the living room while Blair went to the kitchen. "So, have you heard about these crazy deaths recently, like twenty or thirty year old guys just dropping dead?"

"Yeah, that is crazy, isn't it?"

"It is quite strange, yes." Quinn answered and something in her voice told Blair that something was wrong.

"Don't look at me, I'm on the straight and narrow." Blair said as she walked into the kitchen. "Relatively speaking."

"You understand why I'm concerned, right?" Asked Quinn. "You just got back from Europe before all of this started and that's one of the few places where they don't care if you kill."

"Quinn, I am not the one doing this." Blair replied. "Wait, how did you find out that I was in Europe?"

"I just heard it in passing." Quinn answered. "That's not important though, what were you doing there?"

"Having fun, good food, great wine, beautiful scenery, attractive men."

"Did you talk to anyone over there?"

"Of course I did."

"Who?"

"Random people here and there. I didn't really keep track."

"No one, special though?"

"No, can't do relationships, remember?" Blair replied and looked Quinn in the eye. "I'm not the one doing this Quinn, you can trust me."

"Can I trust you?" Quinn asked. "You left without telling anyone, you can't just do that."

It doesn't matter that Quinn is one of Blair's best friends, her accusations were making Blair angry, "You think you know so much about this Quinn, but you don't."

"Stand down, I'm just covering my bases."

"Why?" Blair asked as the tea kettle whistled. "You're acting like you're the one looking into all of this."

"I'm just making sure that no one is getting out of line."

"Speaking of making sure that no one is getting out of line, I caught wind of a rumor that a couple hunters are in town." Blair told her friend, thinking that this would be news to her. Also a change of subject couldn't hurt.

"Oh, really?" Quinn asked, playing along. With her job and the people she keeps in contact with, no one can ever know that not only does she know the hunter, but she is also currently working with them.

Blair walked into the room with the tea kettle. "Have you ever heard of the Winchesters?"

"Yeah, guns, Mystery House, that sort of thing." Answered Quinn.

"No, like the hunters, Sam and Dean Winchester." Blair said. "Those two have been all over creation, if a creature has a connection to the modern world, they know who the Winchesters are."

"I might've heard about them while I was doing research at some point, the names certainly ring a bell."

"If what I've heard is right, they shoot first and ask questions later." Blair said, stirring the sugar in her tea. "Luckily, they don't know what to shoot us with."

Nervously Quinn sipped her tea, they do know what to kill Blair's kind with and Quinn's the one who told them everything they needed to know. If Blair ever found out, it would certainly be the end of their friendship and possibly the end of Quinn's life.

On the other side of town the Winchesters were held up in their motel, trying to figure out their next move. Sadly they knew that they guy Sam witnessed leaving with the suspected succubus was as good as dead, there was no way around it. The next time they get any sort of lead will be if they hear from Quinn or from the police once that guy's body is found. Something that was a bit hard for them to accept, they hated seeing innocent people die, but on the other hand they knew this was the way things had to happen sometimes.

"We should have at least tried to find the place." Dean said as he paced around the room.

"Why?" Sam asked. "We probably wouldn't have found it anyway."

"What if we did though?" Dean asked. "We could have at least saved that guy's life and maybe even ganked a succubus."

"I think right now it would just be best if we wait to hear from either the cops or Quinn."

Dean sat down on the edge of the bed, "I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure she is."

"She just wouldn't tell us who she was meeting, for all we know she could be in trouble, hell she could be dead."

"I doubt she's dead Dean."

With perfect timing Dean's phone began to ring and he quickly answered, "Hello."

"Hey Dean, it's Quinn, what motel are you guys staying at?"

"The Coachman."

"I'm going to be there in a few minutes, just wanted to give you a heads up."

"Okay thanks, see you in a few minutes." Dean said before hanging up the phone.

"Told you she wasn't dead." Sam said, knowing that it was Quinn on the other end.

"She's coming over, something must've happened." Dean said as he started to pick up the room.

Never before had Sam seen Dean care so much about what a woman thought. Well, maybe when he was with Lisa, but that's about it. When Dean finished he sat down on the bed and flipped the TV on to some children's cartoon. Sam was still more or less dumbfounded by his brother's actions, it's something that he wasn't expecting nor was he used to. All of these actions were not something that Sam was going to question, at least Dean was picking up his empties and taking his wet socks out of the sink.

Within a few minutes there was a knock at the door, which Dean leapt at the chance to open. When he did, Quinn was standing on the other side and both men could tell from her facial expression that it wasn't good news.

"Is everything alright?" Sam asked as Quinn walked into the room.

She shook her head, "I found out a few things though."

"What?" Dean asked as he pulled out one of the chairs at their small table for her.

"Uh…" She answered and sat down. "Here in the States and Canada, there is a rule that succubus and incubus cannot kill people on purpose. It's an old rule set by those that came over shortly after the pilgrims and they didn't have a large population to use. Anyway, in Europe on the other hand, they live by the old rules and they can bind their victims and they can purposefully kill them in low numbers."

"What's stopping them from doing it here?" Sam asked.

"Most just are taught that killing is bad and are never told about binding." Replied Quinn. "It's a long complicated thing, but recently one of the succubus from the group here took a trip to Europe and she was alone."

"Let me guess, that's where she could've learned about all of the bad stuff?" Dean asked.

"Yes and no, the woman is named Blair Francis, but she doesn't fit the description. I also talked to her already and she promised me she wasn't the one doing this."

"What's she look like?" Sam asked.

"Well, pretty much like the description of the suspect, but she's a brunette."

"She could be wearing a wig." Dean said.

"Blair can't be the one doing this."

"How do you know?"

"Because, she's one of my best friends."

Neither brother could believe that not only did Quinn know these things personally, but one of them was her best friend. Both also began to wonder if they could trust Quinn if her friend turned out to be the one doing all of this.

"You're friends with one?" Dean finally asked.

"It's not like that, before any of this happened she was doing really good, following all the rules, and I don't want to believe it's her, but something was different when I visited tonight."

Now they began to worry, they didn't want to tell Quinn that there's a good chance that Sam caught the woman in the act. Even if it might make Quinn feel better when they tell her that the woman was or is blonde.

Quinn realized something was up when both brothers stopped talking, "Bad news, huh?"

"I think I saw her." Sam answered. "She fit the description that the last victim's friend gave us and she left the bar with some random guy."

"Anything else happen?"

"She looked right at me as she got in the cab, but that's about it."

"She likes you, whoever she is."

Sam shuddered, "She likes me?"

"Yeah, you might be in a little hot water."

"It wouldn't be the first time." Dean boasted before Sam could.

Sam's phone, which was charging on the table next to Quinn's arm, started to ring. Quinn unplugged the phone and tossed it over to Sam.

"Guys, we might have bigger problems." Sam said as he looked at his phone before answering, "Hello, agent McCready speaking."

"Think that guy Sam saw the woman leave with is dead?" Quinn asked.

"Most likely." Dean answered solemnly.

"Yeah, agent Vedder and I will be over as soon as we can." Sam told the person on the other end and hung up the phone.

"Looks like we have to go on a call, want to come with us?" Dean asked Quinn.

"Sure, should be interesting." She answered.

"Are you sure, Dean?" Sam asked.

"I already have a badge, it's out in my car." Quinn answered, thinking it might help her in the situation.

"You have a badge?" Dean asked.

"Trust me, there were some places I couldn't get into if I didn't."

"Alright, as long as you have credentials, I don't see a problem." Dean answered, then he and Quinn turned to Sam.

"I trust his judgment." Sam replied. "Besides, it might benefit you to see at least one crime scene."

"Awesome." Quinn said, just a little bit too excited about tagging along with the boys.

Before getting into the Impala with Sam and Dean she stopped at her car and pulled a badge out of her glove box. Getting into the backseat of the Impala she presented the badge to Sam and Dean.

"Special Agent Harry at your service."

"Not bad." Dean said as he backed out of the parking spot.

Driving out beyond the city limits, Sam and Dean realized that it was a good thing they didn't try to find this house. Chances are they would've either gotten lost, not been prepared for what they were up against or both and then they would've been part of the crime scene. Pulling up to the little house gave the Winchesters an all too familiar feeling of déjà vu, red and blue lights flashing, house taped off, and police everywhere. Over the past week these two have become staples at these gatherings, though the addition of Quinn threw up some red flags as they approached.

"Who is she?" The lead detective asked.

"We got the call as we were picking up Special Agent Harry here from the airport." Dean answered and at his signal Quinn flashed her fake badge. "She came in from the DC office to help us out."

"Alright, she's good, come on in." The detective said, lifting the tape so the three could enter the scene.

"So, what'd we got here?"

"Same old same old boys and ma'am." The detective answered and turned to Quinn before walking them to the house. "Hopefully you can bring some new insight, because we're running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to figure this thing out."

"I hope I can be of assistance." Quinn said, as she and the Winchesters followed the detective through the unruly house. It was a while before she spoke up again. "These two discussed the case with me previously and let me look at the case files on the way over. Now, you said that this death is just like all of the others?"

"Almost." The detective said as they walked into the bedroom and starred at the mangled dead body sprawled across the bed. "Except this one was a little more violent."

The body was on the bed and though it was intact, more or less, it was covered with deep scratches. Quinn went in for a closer look while Sam and Dean hung back with the detective. Of all the major damage, only some of it happened while the victim was still alive. Before she jumped to any conclusions, Quinn looked on the victim for the telltale piece of jewelry, but she found nothing around the victim's neck. Lifting his arm she rolled up his jacket sleeve and found the necklace hanging loosely off his wrist. Most likely she was too hasty to try and get it around his neck, so his arm had to suffice. Not only was this succubus hunting hastily, but she was getting angry and when people kill angrily, they get sloppy. Having the Winchesters on the radar of the succubus in the area doesn't help.

"The killer is getting angry and sloppy." Quinn told the men. "That's why the victim is torn apart, she knows that the authorities are closing in on her."

"Alright, what does that mean?" The detective asked.

"When killers like this get angry they get sloppy and then they'll probably flee." Quinn answered. "Chances are a few more murders and they'll be gone."

"How do you know?"

"We saw a case similar to this in Ohio a few years back, but had to seal it after an important member of society was found dead." Quinn answered with a stern stare at the officer. "This is all confidential you do not repeat what I say here to anyone under any circumstances."

"Yes ma'am."

"Can we have a minute?" Sam asked. "We need to take photos and the less bodies in here the better."

"Of course." The officer answered before ducking out of the room.

"She's getting sloppy?"

"Yeah, last time she left a witness and now she's tearing apart a body, she's frustrated." Quinn answered as they all just looked at the body. "Even though she's still hunting from her circle she allowed him to bring her home, that's never good. In these situations you always want the home field advantage."

"Do you really think she's going to run?" Dean asked.

"I have no doubt in my mind that she's going to run."

Part of their time was spent taking photos of the crime scene and Dean also swept the room for anything that they could connect to a creature, succubus or otherwise. Secretly Quinn searched the room to find proof of either the guilt or innocence of her best friend. Peaking behind the headboard she found a big clue piled on the floor.

"Either of you have something long?" Quinn asked as she tried reaching for the object, but found her arms were just a little bit too short. "Even a pen would work, I just can't get this."

The comment made Dean smirk and he was just about to squeeze out a raunchy retort, but Sam closed Dean's window of opportunity when he handed Quinn the pen from his jacket pocket.

"Will this work?"

"Yeah, thanks Sam." Quinn answered and pulled the object out from behind the bed. Dean took full advantage of the decent view he got of Quinn's rear end while she was reaching for the piece of evidence, which turned out to be a blonde wig splattered with blood. "You were right about the wig theory."

"I'm betting that's the victim's blood." Dean said.

"Yeah, well that's the suspects hair." Sam added.

After the wig was bagged and tagged, there was really nothing more to could do at that crime scene. The officer was right, it was just like all the others; the place was a mess, more so than a bachelor pad normally is, the victim was dead and probably aged from the inside, which is what killed him, not the slashing, and he had a succubus charm around his neck. On the way back into town Quinn was quiet in the backseat, with the wig she came to the conclusion that this was probably Blair's handiwork. Her friend was always theatrical and would often take one or two of the smaller guys, similar to the last few victims, before going for the big prey, like Sam.

"Is that true?" Dean asked Quinn as he neared the motel.

"Is what true?" She asked, still partially stuck in her thoughts.

"That this thing is maiming dead bodies because it's getting angry and about to skip town."

"Yeah." She answered, followed by a short pause. "It also helps to explain what happens when we finally kill this bitch and the murders stop."

"Was the story about Ohio real?"

"Nah, I just needed something to tell the officer."

"So, we need to get this thing before it leaves." Dean said, pulling into the parking spot he claimed earlier in the day. He turned around to look at Quinn in the backseat, she looked worn out. "Is there anyone you can think of?"

"I think it's Blair, everything fits her pattern."

"She has a pattern?" Asked Dean as they got out of the car and walked towards their motel room.

"Of course, pick off a few of the weak little ones before she goes for the big game."

"Big game?" Sam asked, dreading what Quinn's answer was going to be.

"Someone like you." Quinn replied, taking a seat in the chair she was in prior to their departure. "Even before she was killing people this was her pattern, most just go for random guys and fill up when they needed it, but not Blair. None of this really hit me until you told me about the woman from the bar, then I looked to the other victims and it all fell into place."

"Alright, so what's the plan?"

"We need to go to the bar tomorrow night, that guy she got won't last her long, especially if she's anxious and she is. Then Sam you are going to have to act as bait, lure her in and then, we'll do what we have to do."

Sam was not too happy with Quinn's recent proposal and he was going to be vocal about it, "Wait, wait, wait, I'm not going to be bait for something that has been killing men left and right."

"That's why Dean and I are going to be in the bar." Quinn attempted to reassure him. "If things start going south we'll be right there to have your back, we'll keep in contact with little cell phone ear pieces, and then once she thinks she has her hooks in you, take her outside and we'll finish her."

Dean, who had been oddly silent this whole time, decided to speak up as well, "Quinn, are you sure about this?"

"Listen, I may be friends with Blair and I may know others like her, but I do not condone what she's doing. Killing people is unacceptable and there's really only one way to end it. I cannot trade the life of my one friend for countless innocent lives that will be lost at her hands if she isn't dealt with."

"Whoa, remind me never to cross you." Dean said with a chuckle, though when he found that no one else was laughing, he stopped and his tone was once again serious. "If you promise that you won't let anything happen to my brother, I think it's an okay plan."

Sam was surprised that his brother was siding with Quinn, "Dean?"

"Sam, they need to be alone to do this and not like in an alleyway, so as long as she doesn't get you in a room alone, you should be fine."

"But this one isn't playing by any of the rules!"

"She likes you and some quickie in a back alley behind a bar isn't going to be enough." Quinn said, nearing Sam's level of hostility. "Besides she runs the risk of getting caught if they're not alone and that's not a risk she's willing to take."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely, Blair may not be playing the rules, but I know she will do what she can to keep her ass out of jail."

Sam was finally convinced, "Alright, we'll try it."

"So, she either needs to be stabbed through the heart with something iron or shot with an iron round." Quinn said. "Do you have anything like that?"

"What kind of hunters do you take us for?" Dean asked, wounded that she would ask such a question.

"Hey, I'm just making sure." Quinn answered and stood up. "I think I'm going to head out, can I use your bathroom before I go?"

"Yeah, go for it."

Both brothers watched Quinn walk to the bathroom, not saying a word. She didn't lie, she really did have to use the restroom, but there was an ulterior motive.

"Dean are you sure about this?" Sam whispered, hoping Quinn couldn't hear.

"Sam, I have always done my best to make sure that nothing bad happens to you and that's not stopping any time soon."

"I just don't want to be bound and murdered by some crazy demon woman."

In the bathroom Quinn could hear faint manly whispering, but she couldn't make out the exact words. None of this mattered though, because she knew that the Winchesters were going to come through. After washing her hands she looked around the small room for a good hiding spot, the vent was screwed shut and she didn't have a screwdriver, but the trash was full of tissues, those cheap plastic cups, and a fast food bag, perfect. Even though no one was watching, she sneakily pulled a small fabric bag out of her shirt and placed it at the bottom of the trashcan and covered it with garbage; it had to be inconspicuous, because if the brothers knew it was there they would ask questions and she doesn't want questions.

All of the whispering ceased as Quinn walked out of the bathroom. There was a bit of an awkward silence, but that was bound to happen at some point.

"I'm going to leave and I will come by tomorrow night, say six?" She asked.

Dean smiled, "Six is perfect."

"Great, see you then." She said and walked out the door.

On the way back to her car Quinn pulled out her cell phone and punched in a phone number. Luckily it didn't pick up until after she was in her car.

"Hey Blair, I have a question for you." Quinn quickly said before her friend could say anything.

"Shoot." Blair said.

"Want to go out to Rag Doll's tomorrow night?"

"I was just there this evening." Blair answered. "Though there are always a few new people to choose from or maybe one or two that caught my eye previously."

"Meet me there tomorrow night, seven o'clock."

"Seven's a little early, don't you think?"

"It'll be dark by seven, you'll be fine."

"Alright, meet you at Rag Doll's tomorrow at seven."

"Awesome, see you then."

From the motel window Dean watch as Quinn hung up her phone and drive way. Regretting this asinine plan, Sam was lying down on his bed with his hands shielding his eyes from the overhead light. Dean shook his head as he looked at his brother.

"It's going to be fine, I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you." Dean said, walking towards the bathroom. "Who's going to take the shower first, you or me?"

"Go ahead." Sam told him and was suddenly filled with thoughts of the last time he got involved with a crazy demon woman. With all of those memories flooding back he became more anxious about the upcoming plan. Whenever these two have to interact with a demon of any kind beyond an exorcism, it always turns out to be a bad deal. Even though Sam trusted Quinn's judgment to some degree, there were things that he started to have feelings of uneasiness that he couldn't quite shake.

With a glance at the clock Sam realized that Dean had been in the shower longer than normal and he didn't even want to begin to imagine what was going on; although it did make him wish that he would've taken his shower first. Shortly after Sam's potentially disturbing thoughts about his brother's shower routine, Dean walked out of the bathroom soaking wet with a towel wrapped around his waist.

Sam sneered, "Please tell me that you didn't do what I think you might have done in the shower."

"Alright, I won't tell you." Dean said, pulling a clean t-shirt over his head.

"Gross Dean."

"What can I say?" Dean asked and took a pair of underwear out of a drawer. "You said I can't do anything with her and right now, that's the next best thing."

Sam was disgusted, "Didn't need to hear that."

"Besides, I don't want to be running around unprepared with some killer succubus on the loose." Dean said from the bathroom as he slipped on his underwear. "We don't want another Amazon fiasco or worse."

"Yeah, we don't need you dying again."

"Have to agree with you there." Dean said and got into bed. "I'm going to turn in for the evening."

"Well, I am going to shower now."

Dean switched off the light on the nightstand, "Eh, you won't wake me."

With a roll of his eyes, Sam went into the bathroom and tried his hardest to not think about what Dean may or may not have done to defile the space. Thankfully it was something easily put to the back of his mind, there were too many other big things going on. Stepping out into the air after a nice hot shower abruptly brought down Sam's energy level and he was asleep once his head hit the pillow.

Sleep didn't come to Quinn as easily that night. While she was in bed, starring at the ceiling, her mind was racing with thoughts. How things were allowed to get their far without any sort of recognition by the succubus-incubus community. Eventually she was going to have to betray her best friend, even though she was breaking laws in both her world and the real world. Secretly she was in cahoots with two well-known hunters and perhaps, worst of all, she might be developing feelings for one of them. That shouldn't happen and even if it did, Quinn could never act upon those feelings or she would lose all contacts she has and maybe more. Losing contacts would be the first domino to fall, then her career would collapse, all of the work she had done would be tarnished, all of this worried her. Finally as she thought about her job, she thought about the job that she was currently working with Sam and Dean and the vicious thought cycle started all over again.

By the time her alarm went off at ten, Quinn must have had a good hour, hour and a half, of sleep under her belt. One of her last thoughts before finally drifting off to sleep was about Blair escaping from either herself or the Winchesters. Sadly, there was a chance that this could happen. Quinn trusts Sam and Dean, but if this isn't done right, Blair will slip away from their grasp and run away and who knows what may happen beyond that point. Something good does come out of this though, Blair is probably weak and they would still get the chance to hunt her until the next time she feeds. The trouble with that is Blair would probably try to make a quick turn around and they might not be able to catch up.

Instead of eating breakfast Quinn drove out to an abandoned factory where she and Blair would hang out when they were younger. This was also Blair's location of choice to take victims, now she just takes them to a hotel and kills them. If Blair took them here police would have made a quicker connection and set up a stake out after the second or third body was found. Quinn had been so busy with work that she hadn't been to the factory in years, it looked even worse than it did when they were young, but Blair will still come if Quinn requested.

Walking around the building Quinn considered how this would go down. Both she and Blair would use their normal entrance, but the Winchesters couldn't, there would be no place for them to hide as the women entered the building. Upon closer inspection she found another door at the back of the building that was busted open, probably by squatters or drunken teenagers. Using a can of red spray paint she brought with her, Quinn painted a large X over the door for the Winchesters.

On the way back to her apartment Quinn stopped by her favorite burger joint for lunch. Chances are at the end of the night she would have to leave town and if she ever did return, it would be a while. The rest of the day was spent packing her more important items into a small duffle bag and backpack; clothes, pictures of her family, and a couple of her more important books. When the fire would eventually die down she would come back and pick up the rest of her stuff, since rent was automatically taken out of her bank account she didn't have to worry about anyone coming in and messing with things. As the time crept closer to six Quinn started to get ready, making sure that she looked good enough to go out, but also could kick some ass if she had to.

Even though it was dangerously close to when she had to meet Sam and Dean, Quinn took her time driving to their motel. With each street came another memory and every little thing seemed to mean something to Quinn and she took in all that she was going to leave behind. With all of these thoughts came the realization that Quinn was never going to be able to live in this city again and that fact brought a tear to her eye, it's been so good to her these past few years and it'll be hard to let go. Finally at the motel, she lightly knocked on the door to the Winchester's motel room and Sam answered it.

"Where's Dean?" Quinn asked as walked into the room after Sam.

"In the shower." Sam answered through clenched teeth, trying not to remember last night.

"Do you need to shower?"

"No, I'm not frustrated enough to have to take another shower."

"What?" Quinn asked, pulling something small out of her purse.

"Never mind." Sam answered, shaking the thought away and nodding towards whatever it was in Quinn's hand, "What do you have there?"

"Ear pieces." She answered, handing one of the small electronic objects to Sam. "We'll test them when Dean's done."

"Let me see if I can speed this along." Sam said and pounded on the bathroom door. "Dean, Quinn's here!"

"Be right out!" Dean yelled on the other side.

"Your brother's a good guy Sam, he cares about you." Quinn said. "It must be nice, having someone who cares like that."

"What, no siblings?" Sam asked.

"Nope, my mom could only have one baby." Quinn answered. "My parents always said that they lucked out when they had me, but it would've been nice being able to have a relationship with someone, like what you and Dean have."

"I don't think anyone has a relationship like the one Dean and I have." Sam said sarcastically. "Few men would sell their soul to save their little brother and ask Death himself to help that same brother get his soul back."

"There's a lot of backstory here that people don't know about, isn't there?"

Since Quinn and Sam were deep in conversation, neither of them had noticed that Dean not only finished his shower, but he was standing fully clothed in front of the TV.

"Oh yeah, a lot of backstory." Dean answered. "But we don't have time for that, we have a succubus to catch. Now, you're sure that she'll show up at this place tonight?"

"I am almost certain." Quinn lied and felt horrible about. A strange feeling given that she has been lying to people her entire life, it was something that was second nature to Quinn, so much so that she could say almost anything with a straight face and no tells.

"Are we going in one car or all together?" Sam asked.

"One car is fine."

"Alright, but I'm driving." Dean said as they all walked out to his car. Dean went to the driver's seat and Sam approached the front passenger seat. "Hey, the lady gets the shotgun."

Sam gave his brother a puzzling look, "But Dean, I always…"

"Driver makes the rules Sammy." Dean said as he sat in the driver seat without letting Sam finish his sentence.

Reluctantly Sam complied and folded himself into the backseat. Personally Quinn didn't care where she sat in the car, but she appreciated the forced gesture. As the Impala ripped through the town Quinn wondered if she would ever see them again after tonight, they would all have to leave after this case was closed and who knows if their paths might ever cross again. Considering such ideas put a knot in her stomach, but they also made some of the feelings she was having for Dean wane and in a few short minutes she found herself vowing to never meet up with these two in the future, as much as it hurt her to do so.

"You okay Quinn?" Dean asked, taking his eyes off the road for a minute.

"Just thinking that I will either have to watch my best friend die this evening or I'll have to do it myself." Quinn answered. "It's making me a little sick to my stomach."

"I know, I've been there, it's never something to approach without some thought."

Quinn started to choke up, "I didn't want to see it at first, I was making excuses for her."

"It's never easy knowing that the person you care about has done terrible things like that." Sam said, knowing this fact from personal experiences.

These strange words of encouragement did comfort Quinn in some way. This is one of those situations that most people don't understand and probably never will, but she is one of the lucky few; then again, so are Sam and Dean. Knowing that there are people who have not only gone through what she's going through puts Quinn at ease, but it's also another bonus knowing that they are with her and coaching her along the way. All of these new ideas began to compete with her promise of never seeing Sam or Dean after this and Quinn knew she would have to do some quick soul searching if she was going to come up with an answer by the end of the night.

"Where should we park?" Dean asked as he slowly approached The Rag Doll.

"Not too close, you two are going to walk in before me." Quinn answered. "Just in case Blair happens to see me, at least she won't see us together."

"Alright." Dean said and pulled into a spot at the end of the block.

"Let's test our ear pieces when we get outside." Quinn said as she began to open the door.

"Wait, I got it." Dean said as he ran around to the other side of the car and opened the door for Quinn.

"What is with you?" Sam asked as he got out of the car.

"Trying to be a gentleman." Dean answered matter-of-factly.

"Gentleman, you?"

"Shut up."

To protect Quinn, Sam and Dean blocked her from view as they made sure that they were able to contact one another with these ear pieces. Giving them a little room Quinn hung back by the car pretending to text someone as Sam and Dean walked into the bar. Once the brothers were inside she made her way towards the bar as well. Instead of going inside when she reached the entrance, she waited for Blair outside, hoping to give the brothers some sort of heads up.

Without warning, Dean's voice cracked over the ear piece, "You know Quinn, maybe when we're done with this you and I could go out on a date."

"Sorry, but I can't." She said.

"Come on, one night out." Dean pleaded. "Believe it or not, I'm actually pretty fun."

"Really guys? You know I can hear all this, right?" Sam chimed in.

"Just give me a minute Sam." Dean said. "Now, what'd you say Quinn."

"I'm sure it'd be great." Quinn said, keeping a sharp eye out for Blair. "But I'm not allowed to date men."

Dean smirked, "Oh…wow."

Quinn realized what that implied, "Correction, now allowed to date anyone."

"Who says, your parents?"

"Well, yeah."

"I know you are at least old enough to drink and you still listen to your parents?"

"I kind of have to."

"So, they let you go out and track monsters, but you're not allowed to date?"

"It's a complicated situation." Quinn was more preoccupied with her lookout post and wasn't really paying much attention to Dean. "I can't really get attached to people."

"Perfect, neither can I."

"Dean, it's not what you think." Quinn watched as Blair got out of a cab that stopped a few feet away from the bar. "The bee is nearing the hive. I repeat, the bee is nearing the hive."

"Hey Quinn." Blair said as she pulled Quinn in for a hug, then noticed what Quinn was wearing. Compared to the usual little black dress that Blair was wearing, Quinn looked underdressed in her loose-fitting tank top and skinny jeans. "This is an interesting look."

"I had a late night assignment, no time to get ready." Quinn said.

"But you're wearing make-up."

"Had time to fix my face in the car."

"What do you think she doesn't like about me?" Dean asked Sam, forgetting that Quinn could hear every word.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Want to go inside?" Quinn asked Blair, trying her hardest to tune out the other conversation.

"I'm funny, good looking…" Dean said.

"Sure." Blair said to Quinn and the pair walked into the bar.

"Kind of a dick." Sam added.

"Kind of a dick." Dean added without thinking.

"Believe it or not Dean, not every woman wants to sleep with you." Sam said, causing Dean to scoff at the very thought.

"Sam take note of the woman I just walked in with." Quinn told him quietly while Blair wasn't paying attention. Instead of listening to Quinn, Blair was scoping out the room for a tall attractive man.

Leaving his conversation with Dean behind, Sam looked around the bar and saw Quinn with another brunette at the front of the room. "That's her, the hair is different, but that's her face."

"Great, just sit there and be sexy." Quinn told him.

"What?" Blair asked, finally turning her attention back to Quinn.

"I said that dress is sexy."

"Quinn, I know you've been stuck in a rut and asked me out this evening, but my door doesn't swing that way." Blair patted Quinn's shoulder. "But if this is your way of coming out, then good for you."

"No, I just mean, that dress looks really good on you." Quinn said, attempting to cover her tracks, but she ultimately decided to try and just skate over that topic. "See anyone you like?"

"That big hunky guy at the bar, usually I don't go for long hair, but I can work with it." Blair answered and slinked over towards Sam.

Now that Quinn had the time she was going to set things straight with Dean, "Okay Dean, I'll give you a hint."

"About what?" He asked. "The reason you won't go out me?"

"Yeah, it's not always about you." Quinn answered, just a little bit frustrated.

Watching Blair walk towards the bar felt like an eternity for Sam. It had been a long time since he prayed and he really didn't know who was listening, but in that moment he prayed that he would survive this encounter.

"Hey there handsome." Blair said, taking the bar stool next to the younger Winchester. "I saw you here last night, are you new around town?"

"Yeah, just came in for business." Sam answered, keeping his cool the best he could.

"Funny, you don't look like a businessman." She said and put her hand on his leg. "I'm Sheila by the way."

"Dylan." Sam lied.

"Well Dylan, why don't you and I just skip the formalities and head out of here?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Just give me a second, I'm going to go powder my nose." Blair said and left him. Unbeknownst to the brothers, she sent a text to Quinn telling her that she was going home with the sexy hunk.

"We are on the move." Sam said just before Blair was within earshot.

In preparation for the second part of the plan Dean and Quinn subtlety left the bar and found hiding places outside. Dean was in an alleyway next to the bar and Quinn put her coat on and leaned against the wall, trying to camouflage herself to some degree. Just as the two were in their places Sam led Blair out of the bar and near the alley where Dean was waiting, still praying that Blair wouldn't get the best of him. In an effort to increase his odds of winning this, Sam took her down the alley.

"What are we doing here?" She asked.

"Sorry, it's just my parents are visiting me this week and I can't bring you back to the little place where I'm staying." Sam answered and almost kissed her, but he was saved when Dean appeared brandishing an iron rod.

"You crazy bitch step away from my brother." Dean said, hitting her upper arm with the iron rod, leaving a pretty large gash and burn.

"Dammit!" Blair yelled and grasped the wound with her free hand.

"Now, you're going to come with us quietly or not at all."

"I'm going to take my chances." Blair said and with her last put of power, pushed the two a short distance with invisible force. In her attempt to escape the alleyway Blair bumped into Quinn. She leaned in close to her friend and whispered, "Meet me at the old factory, it's safe there."

Blair stopped a car with one lone strange gentleman and rode off into the night.

"Why didn't you stop her?" Dean asked as he and Sam got up off the ground.

"She wants to meet at the factory." Quinn answered.

"The factory?"

"It's an old building on the edge of town where we'd hang out when we were young."

"Wow, cliché."

"True, but it's also closed off and private and no one will know what's going on."

"And she'll be there?"

"She's weak and scared and she knows that hunters are after her." Quinn answered. "That factory is the only place she truly feels safe."

"You remember where this place is?"

"I went there this morning and made a couple preparations, just in case it came to this." Quinn answered and started off towards the Impala.

"Wait, did you have this all planned out?" Dean asked, chasing after her.

"I had a plan B set in place in case the bar backfired." She answered. "It might be better this way, now we can shoot her and know that the deed is done."

Although Dean would probably force Sam to give-up shotgun again, Quinn got into the backseat. Knowing that her best friend was the one doing this was emotionally draining. Initially she thought that she was mentally prepared for all of this, but as she gave Dean directions to the factory, she quickly found that she wasn't. Since they were young Quinn knew what her friend had to do to stay alive, but she never had to kill people. Granted it does make them more powerful and they cannot overdose on whatever it is that recharges their batteries, but they can easily get by and not have to stoop down to murdering people.

Under the cover of night the factory was terrifying, the crumbling building was surrounded by unkempt foliage and the wind whipped through the broken windows. Usually Quinn came to the building at night, but there was something different now, it was more menacing than it had ever been before. There weren't any other cars yet and Quinn didn't think that there would be. Either Blair killed that guy she got in the car with or she's having him drive her there, but it's probably the former.

"Stop, let me out here." Quinn requested as they got to the front of the building. "I know Blair's going to use this entrance, so you two go around back and find the door with the red X on it, that's your door."

"What should we do once we're inside?" Dean asked.

"Quietly get to the third floor and wait outside for my queue." Quinn answered as she got out of the car.

"And what will that be?"

"See you in hell." She answered and walked towards the building.

Doing as he was told, Dean drove around to the back of the building and found the door with the red X and parked close to it. Sam and Dean then went to the trunk and started pulling weapons from their arsenal. Inside the building Quinn quickly made her way up the stairs and watched as the car she saw Blair get into pull up to the front of the factory, but only one person got out.

On the third floor Quinn prepared to have a battle with Blair, because she knew that Blair wasn't going down without a fight. When the time comes that Blair learns about what Quinn did, she is not going to be happy. Blair threw the door open as she entered the third floor, her hands and body were covered with semi-dried blood.

"What did you do Blair?"

A sinister smile crossed Blair's face, "Got a snack."

"You are the one that's been killing all of those men."

"Look at that, you caught me." Blair said sarcastically and circled Quinn. "But what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to put a stop to all of this." Quinn answered, watching her best friend like a hawk.

"I'd love to see you try." Blair said and stopped, the door that Sam and Dean are going to enter through is behind her. "I know you don't carry a weapon with you at all times and I didn't see your car out front. This room is also free of all iron, I made sure of that. There is no way that you can hurt me here, why do you think I chose it?"

"I thought because this is where you feel safe."

"Exactly, nothing here can hurt me."

"I can hurt you."

"No you can't." Blair said. "You may know how to hurt or even kill me, but you wouldn't do that to your best friend."

"We're not friends anymore Blair, not after this."

"Let me guess, you are the one who has been tipping off the authorities."

"Good guess, not true, but a good guess."

"Well that has to stop, because if they keep coming after me I can't keep doing what I like and that just won't fly." Blair moved towards Quinn at above-average speeds and stopped when they were nose-to-nose. "Now, I am going to give you a warning, you can either stand down now and lose all of your contact with the cops or I'll kill you."

"There is no way I am letting you get away with any of this."

Blair shoved Quinn to the ground, "You picked the wrong time to mess with me."

"See you in hell Blair." Quinn sneered.

Sam and Dean rushed into the room, guns aimed right at the succubus.

"Bitch, how could you bring them here?" Blair yelled.

"You said you weren't going to kill people." Quinn answered as Dean helped her up, but kept his weapon fixed on Blair. "You don't have to kill men to get what you need."

"True, I don't have to, but when you do it once." That sinister smile appeared on Blair's face one more. "It's the best you've ever felt and there is no going back."

Quinn was enraged, but did her best to control it, "People don't need to die for you."

"Silly naïve little Quinn, if only you knew." Blair answered and put her hand to Quinn's throat.

"Let her go!" Dean yelled.

Not accustom to such a hostile environment Blair turned her attention to Dean as he yelled and Quinn used this as an opportunity to push Blair away, causing both of them to fall to the ground. With Quinn falling a little bit faster than Blair, Dean shot one round, the bullet ripped through the room and right over Quinn's head, piercing Blair in the chest inches away from her heart. A gut-wrenching scream arose from the succubus as she was hit. Blair fell into Quinn's arms and started gasping for breath, but then began to laugh.

"What the hell is so funny?" Dean asked.

"They're going to be after you know Quinn, allowing these hunters to kill me." Blair said, barely hanging onto the last few threads of her life. "Funny, I never took you for a traitor."

"I am not a traitor."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Quinn was pissed and knew that she had to finish this, so she thrust her hand towards the Winchesters, "Give me a gun."

"What?" Both brothers asked at the same time.

"Someone just give me a damn gun!" Quinn requested once more, stretching her arm out as far as she could.

Since Dean was the closest to Quinn he handed over his weapon. In one swift motion Quinn shoved Blair to the ground and stood over her. This didn't seem phase Blair, she just laid there and switched between laughing and coughing. With a heavy sigh Quinn aimed the weapon and shot Blair in the forehead.

Shaking, she handed the gun back to Dean and started to walk away, "Grab her, we need to dispose of the body."

Instead of saying something Sam and Dean just nodded. Not moving from his spot Dean thought for a moment about whether he should find this scary or kind of hot, ultimately he settled on the fact that if falls into a strange grey area.

Quinn poked her head back in the room and saw that no process was made, "Come on, we don't have all night."

Silently Sam and Dean grabbed Blair's dead body and moved it outside. Towards the back of the lot, barely breaking the greenbelt, Quinn was standing by a previously dug grave.

"Salt and burn, right?" Dean asked as they brought Blair over.

"Yup." Quinn answered. "I'm assuming you have everything in the car."

"Of course we do." Dean answered and left to get everything without being asked.

While Dean was retrieving the necessary items, Sam and Quinn moved Blair's body into the grave. Each of them grabbed either the gasoline, holy water, and salt, then covered the body and Quinn did the honor of lighting it on fire. No one spoke as they watched the fire burn. This is how it happened, no beautiful songs, no kind words, just fire and ash. With tears in her eyes Quinn walked away from the scene. After looking to his brother, who nodded towards Quinn, Dean went after her.

"Where are you going?" He asked, gently grabbing her arm so she'd stop running.

"I can't stay here." Quinn answered, obviously terrified of something.

"You're scared." Dean said. "Is it what Blair was talking about?"

"Yes."

"Why would something be after you?"

"I can't…I just need to not be in one spot for a while." She answered and started to cry, then wrapped her arms around Dean. Instead of reacting negatively, he pulled her closer. "I'm scared Dean, really scared."

"Listen, it's going to be okay, why don't you come with Sam and I?" Dean asked. "We move from place to place and I'm sure that whatever you're up against is a lot less terrifying than some of the crap we've seen."

She moved her head away from Dean's chest and looked up at him, "I can't put you in that position."

"I think we can manage." He wiped a tear from her face, then moved in closer, but stopped when he saw his brother's large shadow moving towards them.

"It's done, it was burning out, so I put the rest out before tossing some dirt over the top." Sam told them and paused when he saw his brother embracing Quinn. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No." Quinn answered as they separated and she wiped her eyes with her jacket sleeve.

"Come on, we have to get going." Dean said and they all went back to the Impala.

Before skipping town they stopped by the motel where Sam and Dean were staying, so Quinn could move her car and get the bags that she had already packed. She drove off towards her apartment complex and Dean followed so that they could pick her up when she was done.

"What the hell Dean?" Sam asked, since they finally had a chance to talk.

"What?" Dean asked. "There's something after her, she needs to move around, we move around, it's perfect."

"Exactly Dean, there's something after her, which means that something will be after us. Something that we don't really need right now." Sam replied. "I know you have weird feelings for this girl, but things just aren't adding up."

"Sam, we always said that we would protect people. Well, this girl needs protection."

"This is the Lisa and Ben argument all over again."

"I told you not to mention them ever again."

"I'm just trying to get a point across here Dean." Sam said as his brother pulled into the parking lot after Quinn.

"Yeah and I'm just trying to keep her safe." Dean answered and watched as Quinn got out of her car and walked towards his. "She helped us Sam, the least we could do is help her now."

Even though he didn't like it, Sam knew that Dean was right. Quinn did just help them catch a creature that had eluded them for a week in a matter of days. Now she needed help and of all the things that the brothers were taught growing up, loyalty and repaying a debt were the most important. Driving away from the apartment complex, everyone in the car knew that things were going to change, Quinn wasn't going to leave them any time soon and Dean wouldn't let her leave until he was sure that she was safe for good.

Down the road Dean glanced in the review mirror, Quinn was quietly crying and tearing apart pictures of Blair. With all of the once treasured photos torn into miniscule pieces, Quinn opened the window and let them all go outside. Piece after piece floated along down the highway behind the car as it sped off into the darkness.


	2. Something to Hide

This is a fictional story based on the popular television show Supernatural. The characters of Sam and Dean Winchester, along with Castiel, are products of the brilliant mind of Eric Kripke. As is the base story line of two rouge brothers on a cross-country road trip, hunting monsters/demons/anything that needs to be taken care of/etc. and befriending odd angels. However, all new characters introduced in this story including, but not limited to Quinn Gibson, Blair Francis, and Roxanne Loraine, are products of my own imagination and creation; as well as the added story line. I do claim and reserve my rights to these new ideas. All characters are fictional. Any relation to another person, character, or story line are purely coincidental.

I also kindly ask that any and all criticisms remain positive and/or constructive. About a decade ago I had a really bad experience when my friend read my work and this is the first time anyone is reading anything of mine besides scholastic papers.

Now that all of that is over, please enjoy my story.

* * *

Situated in rural Montana sat a quiet little farmhouse nestled up next to a patch of dense forest. In the home a couple is putting their two young children to bed. Off in the distance there is a boisterous howl, breaking the otherwise silent night. The concerned wife looks out their window to the small pasture that touches the woods where their livestock usually graze. At the edge of the pasture she sees multiple sets of brightly glowing eyes.

"Honey, I think that pack of wolves is back." She whispered.

"Stay here, I'll go check it out." Her husband answered and reluctantly left his family alone in the farmhouse.

With his shotgun in hand he walked towards the pasture of foreboding creatures, all watching him with acute precision. As he neared the back about half of them stood up on their hind legs. Terrified, he pressed on, hoping that these creatures, whatever they may be, would be more terrified of him than he was of them. However, the closer he go to these creatures, the more they started to terrify him and they didn't show any signs of backing down. Focusing on the creatures caused the farm owner to accidently move into the range of the motion detector for the lamp above him, triggering the light. This action scared the creatures and they retreated back into the woods. The farmer breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he leaned against his nearby truck.

Although this overwhelming calmness proved to be short-lived, the sudden stillness caused the light to turn off, and the farmer heard a growl from behind him. Even though every fiber of his being was screaming at him to not look back and just make a break for the house, he slowly turned his head over his shoulder and came face to face with one of the creatures. It was the size of a man, but had wolf-like features and piercing yellow eyes. Without a second glance he made a mad dash for the house, praying that he made it to the front door in time. Luckily the motion light was triggered once more and it gave him enough cover to get to the front door.

"Honey, get the kids and get in the upper bathroom now!" He told his wife as he stormed in the house and quickly locked the door behind him. It's the only location in the entire house without windows and it locks.

"What on earth is going on Stephen?" She asked as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Those aren't wolves." He answered and pushed his wife up the stairs.

Somewhere a few miles away, Sam walked into the motel room that he was sharing with Dean and their new companion, Quinn. Dean was busy riffling through more books, still engrossed in attempting to figure out what Blair was talking about before she died. Meanwhile Quinn slept soundly on the bed that Dean claimed upon their arrival. Hoping to not rouse the sleeping woman, Sam began to put away the few groceries he picked up as quietly as possible.

"How long has she been asleep?" Sam asked as he put away the final items. Granted she was asleep when he left, but he thought that she would be awake by now.

"It's been like ten hours." Dean answered, looking from the book to his watch. Silently Quinn stirred, but stayed asleep.

"It's like she hasn't slept in days."

"Well, she hasn't."

"Really?" Sam asked, honestly surprised by this. He paid attention to Quinn and what she did, but normally not close enough to notice exactly when she slept.

"I don't think she's really slept since we left Cedar Rapids." Dean answered. "How have you not noticed?"

"I dunno, I guess I just haven't been paying attention to her sleeping habits."

Dean went back to his research, but continued the conversation with his brother, "We've both been there Sammy, those days or weeks after something really bad happens or you're expecting something to happen, it's like your mind doesn't let you calm down enough to sleep."

"She must really be scared of whatever it is that's after her." Sam said and sat down in the other chair. "Has she given you any information?"

"Nada."

"I just keep thinking about what Blair told her, something doesn't fit."

"I know, but she's already stressed enough, I don't want to push it."

"Maybe if we find out what it is, then we can try and stop it." Sam said, turning on his computer. "That is the kind of thing we do."

"We could, but not yet."

"When, Dean?" Sam asked, his voice rising with frustration. "We can't run from this thing forever and we have both been spending every spare moment we have trying to find info on this thing and it's turning into the succubus case all over again."

"Not yet, Sam." Dean sternly told his brother and looked to Quinn. "I just, I can't do it to her."

"Well, if you're not going to ask her anything and try to get some real headway." Sam said. "I think I might have found us another job."

"Where?"

"Just outside of town."

"You have my attention." Dean said, looking up from his book.

"When I was in the store I heard a guy talking to the person at the counter about these creatures he saw on his farm the other night."

"Get any info?"

"I did strike up a conversation with him and from what I could tell, his family is dealing with a pack of werewolves."

"Werewolves, always interesting." Dean said. "What about Quinn though?"

"I saw we just use every sigil and protection symbol we have in our wheel house, draw a salt ring around the bed, and have a demon trap at the door."

"Do you think it's wise leaving her here unsupervised?"

"What about the family business, Dean?" Sam asked, mocking his older brother, "Saving people, hunting things."

Dean shook his head, he was not going to let Sam get away with mocking him like that. "Fine, but we are putting up every damn symbol we can to keep anything and everything out of this room."

"Alright."

Silently the brothers grabbed the necessary supplies out of the Impala and made quick work of plastering the various symbols and sigils on the wall. One new addition was the succubus necklace in Quinn's possession tied around the doorknob, it is used as protection against the monsters. It was something Quinn told them about during the first night of their travels, it's a way to seal the house. For a moment the brothers stood in the middle of the room and checked to make sure that everything was right before carefully pouring a ring of salt around the bed where Quinn was still sleeping. Since they had not unpacked the car upon their arrival they were already a few steps ahead. Finally just as Sam and Dean were about to leave the motel room, Dean left an iron rod, gun, and knife on the nightstand next to her, just in case.

When Sam was talking with the man he told him that he and his brother look into all things unusual, this allowed them to arrive at the small home in the middle of the day wearing their normal attire, which is always a nice change. Upon their arrival they were greeted by the man of the house, his wife and children were waiting for the brothers in the living room. Both Sam and Dean could tell that this man and his family were still shaken by what they had witnessed that evening. To spare the children and wife any more anxiety, Sam and Dean decided to interview the man alone first.

"What exactly did you see that evening Mr. O'Neill?" Dean asked.

"There's been a pack of wolves killing livestock around here, we heard howling one night and I went to investigate, I didn't want them killing my cattle." He answered, his hands shaking. "And I got out there and they weren't just wolves, they stood up on two legs and were at least six feet tall."

"What do you think they were or are?" Sam asked.

The man shook his head, "I…I don't know."

"Trust me, nothing you tell us is going to sound strange."

His breathing started to become more rapid, until he choked out one word, "Werewolves."

Neither Dean, nor Sam said anything, which caused the man to become more paranoid, this is usually when everyone else would start laughing. In a matter of seconds his breathing was so quick that he began to hyperventilate.

"Mrs. O'Neill, can we get a paper bag in here?" Sam called out, not leaving his seat.

A split second later she was in the living room with the requested bag and handed it over to her anxious husband, who immediately started to breathe in and out of the bag.

"May I speak to you alone?" The wife asked.

"Dean can you handle this?" Sam requested. "I want to make sure that Mr. O'Neill is alright."

"Yeah." Dean answered and followed Mrs. O'Neill into the kitchen. Immediately she situated herself against the counter and started biting her nails, which were almost down to the quick. "What did you want to tell us?"

"My husband was recently discharged from the Marines, he lost friends overseas, and last summer her took our son to the hospital when he fell and broke his arm." Mrs. O'Neill told Dean. "And out of the fifteen years we've been together, that night was the first time that I have ever seen him truly terrified."

"Ex-Marine?" Dean asked as he peeked back into the living room and watched Mr. O'Neill continued to use the brown paper bag to aid his breathing.

"He is a tough man Mr. Winchester, he doesn't scare easily." Mrs. O'Neill said, her eyes beginning to water. "There was something in our yard, something much scarier than any wolf or burglar. Please, believe what he says, he is not crazy."

"I believe him Mrs. O'Neill."

"It's just…the cops laughed at us when we tried to file a report. It made him scared to talk to any other officials."

"Luckily I'm not an official." Dean said, placing his hand on Mrs. O'Neill's shoulder. "My dad was a former Marine too, I know what they're like and I would do almost anything in my power to help them."

"Thank you Mr. Winchester."

"Please, call me Dean." He said with his winning smile.

This comforted Mrs. O'Neill and she smiled, but her eyes, sunken in from sleeplessness and worry, told the truth. Even though there were finally people here that not only believe her husband, but they also might be able to help get right of it, she was still concerned about her family and their farm. Since there was nothing else to discuss, she and Dean rejoined Sam and Mr. O'Neill, who had calmed down, in the living room. No longer hyperventilating, Mr. O'Neill was describing the creatures he saw that night in vivid detail and Sam was writing down every word.

"Then I came in the house, we barricaded ourselves in the bathroom and stayed there through the night." Mr. O'Neill told Sam. "It was the middle of the house, nothing ever came in, but I don't know what happened outside."

"And you're sure about all of this?" Sam asked.

Mr. O'Neill looked directly into Sam's eyes, "I will remember that night for the rest of my life, it is not the type of thing that someone forgets."

"No, it isn't." Dean said. "But we'll figure out what happened Mr. O'Neill, I can promise you that."

"Thank you."

"Well, we have some more to look into. Do you mind if we walk around the property?" Sam asked.

"Whatever you have to do, we live on about ten acres, once you hit the fence that's the edge of our property and it cuts through the woods."

"Okay, Dean and I will check it out." Sam scribble phone numbers for both he and Dean on a corner of the paper. "If you see anything else or just feel uneasy, give either of us a call at any hour any day."

"Thank you, again."

"You're welcome." Sam said as both he and Dean shook Mr. O'Neill's hand before leaving the house.

Before trekking across the fields and into the woods, Sam and Dean grabbed a few items out of the trunk of the Impala; flashlights, guns loaded with normal ammo and silver buckshot, silver knife, and a few other odds and ends for good measure. Everything was normal until they got to the trees and the sun began to set, the air was thick and there was little to no noise coming from the woods. Instead of turning around the two pressed ahead into the increasingly dark woods in typical Winchester fashion.

"From what O'Neill told me, this sounds like a pack of werewolves." Sam told Dean as they walked.

"They have been known to run in packs when they want to, dad made a note of it." Dean said, shining his light in the direction of a branch snapping in the distance. "Speaking of dad, O'Neill is a former Marine."

"He's a former Marine?" Sam asked, just as surprised as Dean was.

"Yeah, the wife told me he was recently discharged."

"I guess even they get scared sometimes."

"Hey, he was up against a pack of werewolves, he's allowed be scared."

"Not arguing with you there."

Werewolves are smart, they know that they were recently seen by a human and will try to find a better hiding spot, but Sam and Dean are familiar with their tactics. Walking through the woods they knew that it was going to be a long night and chances were they weren't going to find much. Off in the distance they can hear more branches breaking and other various noises associated with werewolves or other wild creatures, it had picked up since they broke the tree line. These noises were the best lead that they had, so Sam and Dean started off in the direction of the sound.

Just beyond the other side of the fence they could see a light, most likely an outcropping of some sort. Nearing it they could hear something similar to that of rabid carnivores feeding. Finding a nearby break in the fence they proceeded with caution and looked into the clearing. There they were, a large pack of werewolves feeding on a couple of cattle, probably from this farm or another nearby. After a quick exchange of glances they backed away from the scene, hopefully out of creatures' earshot.

"We don't have enough ammo a pack that big." Dean whispered.

"O'Neill must not have seen the whole pack, because he told me there were like five, that was about ten." Sam said.

"What if we made an explosive and filled it with silver shrapnel?"

Sam shrugged, "That could work, but first we'd have to make the explosive."

"It could work and maybe O'Neill has some supplies, maybe even insights."

"What if the pack moves on?"

"Chances are we would get one or two out before they realize what's going on and the rest come for us."

Sam ran his hands through his hair, this was a lot more difficult than he thought it was going to be. Going into this they weren't sure what they would get, but they assumed that it would be two or three, not ten. Out of the corner of his eye Sam saw a red mist form somewhere in the trees between them and the werewolves.

"Dean, what the hell is that?" Sam asked as he starred at the smoke.

The elder Winchester looked in the same direction and saw the smoke as well, although he didn't have an answer his brother because Dean didn't know what it was either. He did however know that whatever it is, it's probably in their best interest to run from it. Dean tapped Sam's shoulder and they took off away from the smoke, sticking as close to one another as possible. Preoccupied with running, neither brother realized that they ran too close to the clearing until it was too late and the creatures spotted them. The pack moved in and the brothers stopped, two of the werewolves were close enough to Sam and Dean that they could feel the beasts breathing on them through the foliage. Taking charge, Dean shot the two that were closest to he and Sam, then just as the others were about to lunge at the men they stopped.

Never before had the Winchesters seen werewolves stop dead in their tracks during a hunt. Whatever stopped the creatures was behind Sam and Dean, which would be a sign to most people not to turn around, but Dean did anyway. The red smoke was closing in on them and the closer it got, the more the werewolves backed away. Slowly the smoke passed right over Sam and Dean and they used this as their opening to back out of the clearing. From their spot they watched intently as the smoke took down the remaining werewolves with ease, similar to the way demon smoke works, but demon smoke is black.

"What are we looking at here Dean?" Sam asked as they watched the massacre.

"I have no freaking idea." Dean answered as the smoke stopped and seemed to turn its attention to the Winchesters.

Back at the motel room Quinn woke up from her slumber in a cold sweat. To her surprise she was completely alone in a room covered with sigils in a bed concealed by a salt ring. Looking around the room she identified each symbol that the brothers used as protection, then right on the door she saw the necklace hanging off the doorknob.

"Dammit." Quinn muttered to herself as she grabbed the knife off the bedside table and jumped off of the bed over the salt ring to get to the door. She yanked the necklace off of the doorknob and threw it to the floor, breaking the bond; then she drug the cold blade of the knife across her forearm. Slowly her blood trickled to the floor. "Come and get me you sick son of a bitch."

In the clearing Sam and Dean watched as the smoke neared them at an incredibly low speed. Terrified to the point of complete stillness, neither one moved, nor took a breath. As the smoke got closer to Sam he started to back away, but tripped backward over a branch and fell to the ground. A smoky tendril reached out towards Sam, but suddenly vanished into thin air inches away from his face. Dean helped Sam back onto his feet and they looked around. The werewolves were still dead, the smoke was nowhere in sight, and it seems that they came out of this more or less unscathed.

"What the hell?" Dean asked out loud as he gazed upon the carnage.

Sam didn't know what to say, he just shook his head, dumbfounded.

Somewhere along a desolate highway Quinn zipped by in a stolen car. Following her little incident Quinn cleaned her wound and packed all of the things that she and the brothers had in the hotel, then she found a car that was easy to obtain. There was no way they could stay at the motel let alone in that town for the evening and they will have to move on from their next town as soon as possible in the morning.

"Call Dean." Quinn told her phone and listened as it rang.

"Hello." Dean said on the other end.

"Dean listen to me, don't go back to the motel, whatever you do." Quinn said. "I'm going to the next town over called Eastwood, you call me when you get in there."

"Quinn, what the hell is going on?"

"There's no time to explain, just leave what you're doing now and meet me in Eastwood." Quinn answered and hung up the phone.

Dean hung up his phone and walked into the living room where Sam was speaking with the O'Neill family.

"So there was a red smoke that killed the wolves?" Mr. O'Neill asked.

"Yes, we're not sure what it was, but we watched it take down all of them." Sam answered.

"Should we worry about this smoke?"

"No, that phone call was from one of our associates and she told me that you should not concern yourselves with the smoke, it does not affect humans." Dean answered, though it was a lie. "And trust me, she really knows her stuff."

"Don't hesitate to call though if anything else comes up." Sam told the husband and wife.

"Sam, we have to go." Dean told his brother.

"Thank you so much for all that you've done, we are so grateful." Mrs. O'Neill said.

"You're welcome, take care." Sam said.

"And stay safe." Dean added.

They left the house and walked back to the car. Instead of heading back towards where they were staying previously, Dean went the opposite direction, towards Eastwood.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked.

"Eastwood, we're meeting Quinn there." Dean answered.

"What's going on?"

"She just called and said that she had to leave the hotel and that we have to meet her in Eastwood."

"This was supposed to be an open and shut werewolf case."

"What's your point."

"Then that red smoke appeared and everything went to hell."

"Sam, whatever we do always seems to go to hell." Dean said and sped up the Impala. "By now I thought you would've learned to just roll with the punches."

By the time Dean finally drove into Eastwood it was late and all the streets were empty. He pulled out his phone and called Quinn.

"Dean?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah, we're in Eastwood."

"Go through town, at the very end you'll see the Eastwood Inn, that's where I've rented a room for the next evening." Quinn told him. "Room eight."

"Okay, we'll see you in a few minutes." Dean said and hung up the phone.

The Impala was intimidating as it rolled through the small mom and pop town. Eastwood is a perfect example of that small little town that would be difficult to find on the map. Just as Quinn said, at the end of the street was a small motel, not unlike the establishments that the Winchesters tend to stay at. They found room eight and Dean knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A deep voice asked on the other side of the door.

"Sam and Dean." Dean answered.

The door flung pen and Quinn was on the other side, she yanked both men in by their jackets and slammed the door. Immediately she locked it, shoved a chair against it, and put a dusting of unknown powder between the chair and the bottom of the door. Of course Sam and Dean didn't notice this, they were too busy looking around the room, there were so many symbols that most were nearly illegible and there were a few that neither Sam nor Dean could decipher.

"Alright we're here." Dean said as Quinn turned to them. "Now tell us what's going on."

"Did you see red smoke?" Quinn asked.

"Yes, we were hunting werewolves in the woods and it appeared and killed all of them." Dean answered. "Well, except for the two that I killed."

"Did it do anything to either of you?"

"It got close to me and I fell over a branch." Sam answered.

"Did it touch either of you?" Quinn asked intensely.

"No, it disappeared before it could."

Quinn breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "Good."

"What was that thing Quinn?"

"I don't know exactly what it is, only that it exists."

"Are you sure you don't know what it is?" Dean asked.

"It's kind of like demon smoke, beyond that I have no idea." Quinn answered and it was a lie and she felt terrible about it, but this wasn't the time.

Just then Sam's cell phone began to ring, all three of them looked over towards his jacket. They were all on edge and it took a minute for Sam to finally answer it.

"Hello, Sam Winchester."

"Sam, you know that red smoke you were telling us about?" Mr. O'Neill asked.

"Yes." Replied Sam, drawing the word out.

"We just saw red smoke go into the woods behind our home."

"Okay, stay in the house and do not open the door until we get there." Sam said and looked to Quinn. "The smoke is at the O'Neill house, is there anything we can do?"

"Salt ring is a slight deterrent, but tell the adults to grab anything iron and if the smoke gets close run the iron through it." Quinn answered.

"Pour a ring of salt around your family and grab something iron for all of the adults." Sam relayed to Mr. O'Neill.

"We have iron fireplace tools." He said.

While Sam continued speaking with Mr. O'Neill, Quinn helped Dean put together everything in the car. With everything in order they got in and waited for Sam to join them.

"That's perfect and if the smoke gets close just run the tools through it." Sam said as he got in the car. He listened as Mr. O'Neill poured the salt and handed out tools.

"Are you sure that'll work?"

"It'll hold them off until we get there."

"Please hurry." Mr. O'Neill requested, his voice shaking.

"We'll be there as soon as we can." Sam reassured Mr. O'Neill, who hung up the phone just before Sam did.

Dean was roaring down the highway, defiantly breaking multiple speeding and driving laws. About halfway between the farmhouse and the motel Quinn rolled down the window, took a small vile containing a dark liquid out of her jacket pocket and tossed it out of the window. Upon hitting the ground the vial broke and the liquid seeped into the cracks in the asphalt.

The O'Neill family watched from their farmhouse as the smoke moved across their property, creeping towards their home. Together the husband and wife began to pray for the safety of their family, nothing else mattered but making sure that their children were okay. Within a few feet of the house the smoke dissipated. Even though the family was overcome with relief, they knew that they were not out of the woods yet, not until the Winchesters showed up.

Luckily by the time the Impala rolled up in front of the house the smoke had not yet made a reappearance. Sam, Dean, and Quinn walked up to the front door, which was promptly opened by Mr. O'Neill.

"Mr. and Mrs. O'Neill, this is our associate and specialist Quinn Gibson." Dean said as he introduced the family to their companion. "Quinn, this is the O'Neill family."

"Hello, I am so sorry to hear about all of your troubles." Quinn said in her sympathetic voice as she shook the hands of Mr. and Mrs. O'Neill. "Now, why don't we fix this ordeal for you."

"Do you know what the smoke is?" Mr. O'Neill asked.

"Demons, when they are not inhabiting a human body are seen as a black smoke, this is like that, but a little different." Quinn answered as she pulled four small fabric bags from the large tote she brought in with her. "You need to put one of these bags in the North, South, East, and West facing walls of the house. You as a family have to put them in the walls, it's stronger that way, and my apologies about any damage."

"I can fix the walls, I just want my family safe." Mr. O'Neill said, taking the bags and handing two to his wife. "You get the North and South walls, I'll get the other two."

"What do we need to do?" Dean asked Quinn, letting her take the reins this time.

"Once those bags are in the walls we are going to go outside." Quinn answered.

A few minutes later the husband and wife were back in the room with the Winchesters and Quinn.

"That's done, now what?" Mr. O'Neill asked.

"Go back to your circle and keep your fireplace tools handy." Quinn answered. "I am going to perform a small ritual outside, is there a good place I can do that?"

"There's a broken down barn out back, we're tearing it down in a few weeks anyway."

"That'll be perfect. Sam, Dean, follow me." Quinn said and the brothers followed her out the door.

In silence they walked to the old barn that Mr. O'Neil spoke of. Inside Quinn felt around for a light switch and turned on the few lights in the barn that still work.

"Just let me do this, but you have to have my back in case things go south, alright?" Quinn asked Sam and Dean.

They both nodded in response. With approval from the Winchesters Quinn dug a small hole in the dirt and dropped the necklace in. She pulled up her jacket sleeve, bearing the bandage from her previous wound, took a small knife out of her bag and made another cut below the first. Instead of letting the blood fall to the floor, like she did in the motel, Quinn made sure that it covered the binding necklace. All of the lights in the barn began to flicker and the red cloud of smoke appeared above the hole in a flash. Sam and Dean watched in awe and horror, they knew nothing about this ritual.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus." While Quinn spoke, the lights flickered more, the smoke began to pulsate, and with every line Quinn seemed to be in more pain, blood running down her arm. "Omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio, et secta diabolica."

Just as quickly as it had appeared, the smoke burst and blew out all the lights at the same time. Totally drained from ritual, Quinn fell to the floor and Dean rushed to her side.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's just a blood thing and it really packs a wallop." She answered as she stood up, aided by Dean.

"What happened here?" Dean asked as he held her arm and saw the bandage.

"I had to do something like this at the motel earlier today to draw it back to me."

"Quinn, you have to tell me what's going on."

"I'll explain later, I'm really light headed." Quinn was also having difficulty breathing. "Sam, tell the family that everything is going to be alright."

"Yeah, of course." Sam replied before leaving the barn.

Using Dean to steady herself, Quinn used her foot to cover the necklace with dirt before she walking back to the car with him. By the time they reached the Impala she was almost totally drained. Dean placed her in the backseat and grabbed the first aid kit out of the top part of the trunk. During Sam's final talk with the family, Dean tended to Quinn's newest wound. Growing weaker by the second she leaned on the edge of the seat while Dean fixed her arm just far enough outside of the car to prevent blood on the upholstery.

"How did it disappear from their yard before we got here?" Dean asked.

"I threw a vile of my blood out of the window when we were about halfway here." She answered as Dean finished wrapping her arm.

"Quinn, is it just your blood that it's attracted to?"

"No." She answered before passing out in the backseat.

There was no sense in trying to wake her up, she was down for the count, so Dean put her legs in the car and moved her so that was across the whole backseat. Sam walked out of the farmhouse just as he closed the door.

"How's the family?" Dean asked.

"Good, still a little shaken, but I think they're doing a lot better." Sam answered. "They feel safer, I know that much."

Dean got into the driver's seat as Sam got shotgun, "Hopefully this will be the end of things."

"What's up with her?" Sam asked and looked to see Quinn passed out in the backseat.

"I think whatever she did back there drained her." Dean answered and drove away from the house.

"That was really brave."

"She did not seem scared of that thing."

"Do you think she knows what it is?"

"I don't know, maybe she does, maybe she doesn't." Dean answered with a glance in the rearview mirror. "But she's not going to tell us anything right now."

The entire car ride back to the motel was spent in silence, mainly so that Quinn wouldn't be disturbed. Arriving back at the motel Dean woke her up to see if she could get inside on her own and it turned out that she was just strong enough to do simple things on her own. First thing she did when she got inside was go straight to the bathroom and take a shower. Sam and Dean both knew they needed to talk about this, but they can't do it in a room where Quinn could walk in at any moment.

"We need to step outside." Dean told Sam. Together they left the room and hung out by the Impala, finally able to talk somewhat freely. "Okay, what in the hell is going on?"

"I have no idea." Sam answered and thought for a moment. "But, you know who might?"

"Who?" Dean asked, not really up for a guessing game.

"Cass." Sam answered matter-of-factly.

"Cass! Why didn't we think of him sooner?" Dean asked and pulled out his phone and punched in the last phone number he knew of that belonged to Castiel.

After a few rings a familiar gravelly voice answered, "Hello."

"Hey Cass, it's Dean, Sam and I are at the Eastwood Inn in Eastwood, Michigan." Dean said. "Listen, we have a pretty big issue right now and we don't know what…"

"Hello Dean, Sam." Cass said as he appeared before them.

"Cass." Dean said as he hung up the phone.

"You call, I answer."

"We need your help."

"That is why you called, is it not?"

Dean shook the question away, if they don't move on now, they'll be in this spot for a while, "There's this girl…"

"Do you want me to get rid of her?" Cass asked, a little confused.

"No, no, there's something weird after her and we need to know what's going on because she's not telling us anything right now."

"Where is she?"

Sam motioned towards the door, "In our hotel room?"

"There is one angel sigil on the wall above the headboard, would you mind?" Cass asked and nodded towards Dean.

"Yeah sure, one sec." Dean said and went inside.

"So, lovely weather recently, huh?"

"Don't try making small talk Cass." Sam said without looking at the angel. "It's a little weird."

"Alright, got the one above the bed, we good?"

Cass looked at the room through the eyes of an angel, "Yes, we are good."

When Dean was inside he heard Quinn get out of the shower, so she was probably in the main room changing. Making an attempt to be polite, he opted to pound on the door instead of just walking in. It's a little bit different living with a woman and it is not the easiest adjustment to make.

"Hey guys." A nearly naked Quinn said as she opened the door, but froze when her eyes fell upon Cass.

"We need to talk." Dean said, trying to not be distracted by the fact that her only covering was a towel.

"Alright." Quinn said slowly as she let the three men into the room and kept her eyes fixed on the angel.

"Quinn this is Cass and Cass this is Quinn." Dean said.

"Who is this?" Quinn asked.

"Castiel, he just told you that." Cass answered. "Though these two do prefer to call me Cass."

Dean rolled his eyes, "He's an angel and we think he might be able to help."

"I put an angel sigil above the bed." Quinn said, looking over her shoulder to the spot where she thought the symbol was.

"I took care of that a minute ago. Don't worry, he's a good one, for the most part."

Cass squinted at Quinn, almost as if he was trying to figure her out, "What are you?"

"Human…" Quinn answered uncomfortably. "What else would I be?"

Cass continued to examine her, "Are you sure?"

Dean and Sam exchanged confused glances and Quinn just stood there, very uneasy.

"Well, this is just getting more awkward by the second and the fact that only a small sheet of terry cloth is the one thing preventing you from seeing my naughty bits isn't helping." Quinn said. "Do you mind if I change really quick?"

"No, go ahead." Sam answered.

Quinn grabbed a few clothes from her duffle bag and went back into the bathroom.

"Why did you ask what she was?" Dean whispered to Cass.

"I don't know exactly how to explain it." Cass whispered back.

"Come on, anything is better than nothing." Deans aid and right at that moment Quinn walked back out of the bathroom, this time in a t-shirt and jeans. "Too late."

"Too late for what?" She asked.

"Dean wanted to know why I asked what you were." Cass answered.

Dean cursed the angel under his breath, "Dammit Cass."

"Obviously that is something he didn't want you to know."

"I kind of want to know what you saw too." Quinn said.

"Then I should probably read you." Cass held out his hand. "May I?"

"Aren't angel readings kind of painful?"

"It is rather uncomfortable, yes."

"If you must." Quinn answered and lied down on the bed.

Cass used his celestial powers and reached into Quinn's abdomen. As he reached deeper into her being she screamed out in pain and the look on Cass' face became more confounded. After a few minutes the angel took his hand out of Quinn and she rolled over to her side, clutching her midsection.

"Cass, what's wrong?" Dean asked.

"There's something there, I can feel it, but I don't know what it is." Cass answered and touched Quinn's forehead, causing her to pass out.

"I've already said this about a dozen times today, but what in the hell is going on?"

"I can't read her, this doesn't happen often and I'm not entirely sure what it means." Answered Cass. "Or she's blocking me from reading her."

"Blocking you?" Sam asked, honestly he didn't know that sort of thing was possible.

"Sometimes when people focus very hard they can block my readings, it's rare and it takes a lot of practice to master, but it can happen."

"Then how were you able to knock her out just now?" Dean asked.

"She was already weak, but the reading weakened her even more."

"Alright, then what did you mean before, when you asked her what she is?" Dean asked. "And be honest with me this time, I don't care how crazy it sounds."

"She's human, yes." Cass answered, still puzzled. "Though for a second I saw something else, something…different."

"Do you have any idea what it could be?"

"I hate to say this, but I honestly don't know." He answered. "What happened, why is she with you?"

"We hunted a succubus just over a week ago, it was her friend and she was the one who actually had to pull the trigger." Dean thought back to that fateful day. "But right before she did, the thing told her that because of what she did something was going to be after her."

"We've stayed ahead of whatever it is, but we encountered something strange twice today." Sam added.

"Did you see what it was?" Cass asked.

"Weird red smoke, like demon smoke." Sam answered. "Then Quinn bled onto a succubus binding necklace, the smoke showed up, and she basically exorcised it."

"Then she passed out in the car on the way home." Dean added.

"This isn't making any sense." Cass told them. "I'll be right back."

Cass disappeared and a few seconds later Quinn regained consciousness.

"Where's the angel?" She asked.

"He left, I think he's looking for answers." Dean replied.

"Well, I feel violated and I think I need another shower."

"Okay, I think Sam and I are gonna go see if we can find someplace to grab some burgers, but if you need anything…"

"You're just a phone call away." Quinn said, finishing his sentence with a smile.

"That's right."

"Thanks guys."

Dean nodded and turned to leave with Sam.

"Wait." Quinn said just as Sam's hand touched the doorknob. Both brothers turned around and Quinn sat there for a minute with her mouth hanging open. It was like she wanted to say something, but nothing was coming out. "Thanks for trying to help guys."

"Yeah, no problem." Sam said.

"Whatever we can do to help." Dean said.

From the bed Quinn watched them leave and listened as Dean started up the Impala and sped out of the parking lot. Once the coast was clear, Cass popped back in the room, although Quinn didn't appear to be too surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Why haven't you told them?" Cass asked.

"They don't need to know." Quinn answered.

"What you are doing, it could have them killed."

"As long as I'm traveling and covering my tracks I can take care of things." Quinn said. "I can hold it off."

"What are you planning to do with them?" Cass asked, obviously upset. "Keep and then do away with them when you finally have the chance?"

"No, I would never do anything bad to them, especially kill them." Quinn sincerely answered. "Besides, it wasn't my idea to come along, it was Dean's."

"If you care about them at all, you will tell them or you will leave and never look back, because I will not keep this a secret beyond this point."

"Castiel, please just give me some time." Quinn pleaded and though he didn't want to help, Cass could tell that Quinn really was broken up inside and it wasn't just a side effect of the angel reading. "I need to find the right moment to tell them and it's not now."

"Something came close today, so close that it scared them enough to call upon me, now you tell them or I will."

"Please, I'm begging you, don't do that."

"I have watched them fight tooth and nail to keep one another safe and I will not stand idly by to witness their downfall by the likes of you." Cass told her, getting rather angry.

"I promise, I would never let that happen." Quinn told the angel, her heart breaking from the accusations. "They have saved my life and made sure that I was safe when no one else could, I am forever grateful for what they have done. Especially Dean, he's watched over me, took care of me when I needed it."

Cass finally began to calm down, "I saw that too."

"What?"

"Your feelings for Dean, I saw that in my reading." Cass replied. "But it has to stop."

"It was a heat of the moment thing, attraction because he just saved my life, it's not permanent."

"Don't lie to me Quinn." Cass sternly looked into her eyes. "You cannot act upon those feelings, you know what will happen if you do."

"I'm figuring it out, just give me…two weeks, tops." Quinn requested.

"Fine, but if you don't do anything or tell them after ten days, I will."

"Castiel, one more thing?"

"What?" He asked, for an immortal being who doesn't need sleep, Cass seemed exhausted.

"Can you stop it?"

"Trust me, I would if I could."

"Well, thanks anyway."

"I wouldn't do it for you, but I would for them."

"For them?"

"For their safety."

"Oh…" Quinn said in a dejected tone with a downturn gaze. "Thanks…again."

"You're welcome." Cass said, but more like he was forced into saying it, bound by the rules of polite conversation. Then he disappeared once more. Now Quinn was all alone in the motel room and she knew that it was time to think about her situation.

It took them a while, but Dean was able to find the one restaurant opened past ten o'clock at night, a small town diner. In the restaurants at one of the back booths Dean sat with Sam, they were the only people in the restaurant and the only woman waitressing was in back with the cook. While they were waiting for some late night food, Dean's cell phone began to ring.

"Hello." He answered.

"Where are you?" Cass asked.

"Sonny's Diner."

Nothing else was said and Cass appeared in the booth next to Sam, thankfully no one else was there to witness this miraculous event. Even though this has happened numerous times, it still surprises them when he randomly shows up and in this case it almost caused Sam to choke on his beverage; they should really be used to this by now.

"Cass, we have talked about this." Dean said, hanging up his phone.

"Sorry." Cass said as he hung up his phone as well.

"So, did you find anything new?" Dean asked as the waitress brought the brothers their food.

"I didn't hear you come in." The waitress told Cass.

"Uh, he's really quiet." Sam told her.

"Yeah, like a church mouse." Dean quipped.

"You want anything sugar?" She asked Cass.

"No, I do not require sustenance." Cass answered blankly.

With a quick shrug the waitress walked away and back into the kitchen, she didn't care, it was one less mouth to feed.

"To answer your previous question Dean, I…" Cass started to say and then for a minute he seriously considered going back on his word and telling the brothers everything about Quinn. "I couldn't find anything, at least nothing of importance."

"But you found something?" Dean asked.

"Information on the succubus." Cass answered. "General knowledge, mind you, they're old and secretive, even for angels their whereabouts are closely guarded."

"Sounds like an understatement." Dean said and took a big bite out of his burger. "When we were hunting the succubus we had to contact Quinn as a resource."

"Is she a hunter?"

"She's more like a researcher and author." Sam answered. "Garth mentioned that she was good with the really weird stuff and we went to her, hoping that she knew something."

"Did that not strike you as odd?"

"What?"

"That she seemed to know so much about something that neither of you could find any information on?"

"No, it seemed like one of those specialist situations."

Dean swallowed all of his food before jumping into the conversation, "She said that she studies the strange and unusual."

"So do you." Cass said, his tone of voice made it sound like he was telling them this for the first time.

"We hunt the strange and unusual, little bit different." Dean said. "Most of our research goes into finding and killing things, not studying them."

"I can barely find any information on these things as an angel, yet a human was able to lead you right to it and tell you how to kill it." Cass said, trying to force them into seeing the situation. "You cannot tell me that is not strange."

"She told us she's encountered one in Europe before, she even had its special medallion of power or whatever that thing was." Dean said, trying to give Quinn the benefit of the doubt.

"I guess things just don't quite fit together."

As much as he hated to admit it, Sam knew that Cass was right, there were things that didn't fit together and for whatever reason, Dean wasn't seeing it. Well, Dean isn't seeing it because he mainly thought about Quinn with his little brain. Good or bad, Cass was right, there was something different about Quinn, something Sam couldn't put his finger on.

Sam was the one who finally broke the tense silence, "I get it."

"What?" Dean and Cass asked at the same time, the former out of confusion and the latter out of surprise.

"No offense Dean, I know how you feel about her." Sam said. This statement caused a look of shock to appear on Dean's face. "But this is all a little too weird, we've both been doing this too long to not realize when something isn't right, you have to see that something isn't right here."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Dean said.

Sam starred at him, everyone at the table knew what Sam was talking about, "Come on, what Blair told her, the thing that's after us, the fact that the crazy red smoke just disappeared after she confronted it. It's weird Dean."

"You said it yourself Sam, she's a specialist." Dean said, still not willing to accept his brother and Cass's point of view.

"When Cass says something is weird, it's probably weird." Sam said and Cass nodded along.

"He's been wrong before."

"Rarely." Cass said, coming to his own defense.

"Dean." Sam said.

"Sam, stop, I get it." Dean said. "This is weird, I know that, but I just can't focus on that right now."

"Why not?"

"Because I want to keep her safe." Dean started to get very intense. "That's my focus right now because that's what matters. Yeah, it would be great if we knew what was after us, I'll admit that, but I am not going to push an envelope that doesn't want to be pushed. I've been there, it's not fun."

"Sometimes you need to push the envelope to get the right answers and we need answers." Sam said, matching brother's intensity. "You want to protect her, fine, but we cannot just keep running."

Dean glared at Sam, he couldn't believe his own brother was switching sides, after all they've been through.

"He's right Dean, you might have to push the envelope, as you say, because if not, whatever has been chasing you will probably kill you the first chance it gets." Cass said.

"I'm not going to do that." Dean told them.

"Alright, then I'll do it." Sam said.

"No, you won't, you start asking questions and I swear…"

"You'll what Dean? Bust my nose? Shoot me?" Sam asked, interrupting Sam. "It's just a couple of questions, that's all."

"Just give it a little more time Sam, like another couple weeks." Dean said. "Give her just two more weeks and if we don't know anything by then, you can ask all the questions you want."

"I don't know about this Dean." Cass said. "Do you think you'll be able to outrun this thing for two weeks?"

"Why are you two trying so hard to make me do this?" Dean asked. "Sam, remember when you got your soul back and even though you weren't supposed to, you scratched the freaking wall and your world came crashing down? And Cass, what about when you tried to take all those bad memories and then you had a mental breakdown, which was the beginning to the wonderful story of how Dean and Cass got to purgatory?"

Sam and Cass both adverted Dean's gaze, they remember those situations all too well.

"This is what happens when you push the envelope and I want to give her a little bit more time or else that's going to happen all over again." Dean said and got up to leave. "And I'm not doing that to her."

"What are you doing Dean?" Sam asked.

"Leaving." He answered, putting down money for the meal. "You can have Cass zap you home."

Storming out of the diner, Dean left Cass and Sam alone at the booth in silence.

"Seriously Cass, what do you know?" Sam asked.

"Like I said, nothing of importance." Cass answered. "Shall we go?"

"Might as well."

Following the ordeal with Cass and the Winchesters, Quinn decided to unwind with stupid late night TV. As the night progressed she went from vulgar poorly drawn cartoons to not so interesting infomercials. Part of the way through a program about an incredibly fast and compact blender, just as Quinn was drifting off to sleep, Cass and Sam appeared before her in the middle of the motel room.

"Holy crap!" Quinn yelled and nearly jumped out of bed. "We have a front door, you know?"

"Yeah, but Cass and I weren't allowed back in the car." Sam answered.

"What?"

"Dean left without us, so Sam and I had to find an alternative means of transportation." Cass answered.

"Thank you Castiel." Quinn said sarcastically.

"You're welcome Quinn." Cass said in the same tone, he still hasn't fully grasped the concept of sarcasm.

"I was more curious about the 'not allowed back in the car' ordeal." Quinn answered with air quotes.

In that moment Dean threw open the front door and saw Sam, Quinn, and Cass standing in the room talking amongst each other, "Oh, this is just perfect."

"Dean, would you just listen to reason?" Sam asked.

"Listen to reason?" Dean asked, going toe to toe with Sam. "What you're saying is I should trust whatever it is telling you that I should do something to cause someone else pain, pain which they don't deserve?"

"If it helps us figure this out, then yes, that's what I think you should do."

Without another word, Dean turned his back to his brother and walked back towards the door.

"Where are you going now?" Sam asked.

"Out." Dean answered, slamming the door behind him.

While Sam and Cass just starred at the door, Quinn slipped on her nearby shoes, grabbed her jacket, and went outside. As Dean opened the car door, Quinn stepped out of the motel in her pajamas, and he watched as she walked over.

"Dean, where are you going?" Quinn asked, more concerned about Dean's safety.

"Probably get a drink or something." He answered coolly.

"Here, I'll go with you."

"I think I'll be fine." Dean said, not that he doesn't want to spend time with Quinn, this just may not be the best time.

"You're not fine now, why would you be fine after a drink or two?"

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked. "Nothing's wrong."

"Don't pretend like I didn't see and hear that argument in there." Quinn said and stepped to the passenger side of the Impala. "I'll go with you, hell you don't even have to talk to me, I just want to make sure that you're moderately okay, and at the very least, take you home if you've had too much."

"Alright, you can come." Dean said, trying to make this sound like it was an imposition.

Driving to the only bar nearby that was still open without speaking to one another made Quinn believe that Dean was truly upset with her for insisting to tag along. In reality Dean wasn't all that upset, though he did his best to keep her in the dark; he blasted some of his music, something loud that would act as further proof of his anger. Through the noise, on the second chorus of Mötely Crüe's 'Shout at the Devil' Dean heard a faint noise coming from the seat next to him.

"Well stand and deliver, be strong and laugh and shout, shout, shout, shout at the devil…" She quietly sang along and watched the scenery as it passed them.

Listening to her sing Mötely Crüe made Dean smile, Sam is always complaining about what Dean listens to in the car. Not only did Quinn refrain from complaining, but she's actually singing along. Sam thinks she's hiding something, but Dean knows deep down that if she is in fact hiding something from them, it's for their own good. If Quinn wanted to hurt or kill them, she would have done it already.

The bar that Dean found was some rough establishment right on the outskirts of town, rather in the fringes of the outskirts of town, this place is in Eastwood by area code only. Like the rest of the town it was quiet, a couple of people still hanging around, and there was a bar tender who had just finished cleaning up after what is considered to be their busy period. Both Quinn and Dean took a seat at the bar.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked.

"Whiskey, two fingers, neat." Dean answered.

"Nothing for me, I'm his designated driver." Quinn sweetly replied.

"If you need anything then it's on the house." The bartender said with a wink and poured Dean's beverage.

"I know that you said you knew about Sam and I before we met, what exactly did you know?" Dean asked as the bartender set the drink down in front of him. "Thanks."

"I knew what you two did for a living, that you were brothers, your dad did this, you knew Bobby…" Quinn answered.

"You knew about Bobby?" Dean asked.

"He was hunting a viruñas that came up from Columbia." Quinn answered and smiled at the memories. "It was one of those few that ever came up to the States and I had to research it. Anyway, while I was trying to get pictures it tried to attack me and steal my soul, but Bobby got there just in time and killed it. He saved my ass."

"He's saved mine more than once." Dean said downing his drink and motioning for one more.

"Garth found my number somewhere in his notes and called me on a case about a viruñas a couple of weeks after Bobby passed way." Quinn told Dean. "It's funny, Bobby told me before we went our separate ways that if I ever needed help and he wasn't available, I had to contact either you or Sam."

Dean started to laugh as he was given another drink.

"What?" Quinn asked.

"You were told to ask us for help if you needed it, when you did eventually need help, we were there." Dean answered. "I just think it's kind of funny how things work out like that."

"Maybe it's fate."

"Fate, if it's real, has never been this good to me."

"In case you forgot, there is something chasing me right now. Which technically means something's chasing us."

"See, fate's an ass."

Quinn laughed and nodded in agreement with the cynical man. While he continued to drink Quinn and Dean swapped various stories about hunts, research expeditions, Bobby, sports, and really anything that just happened to come to mind. After he was a few glasses of whiskey in, Dean began to lose control over his ability to think before speaking.

"I have to ask, what was it, specifically, that you found so unappealing about me?" Dean asked.

"What are you talking about?" Quinn asked, sipping a glass of water.

"When I asked you out, you shot me down." Dean answered. "That rarely ever happens."

"It has nothing to do with you, trust me."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm…broken, Dean."

"You think you're broken?" Dean asked. "Sam and I hunt things that most people can't even conjure up in their worst nightmares and Cass is a fallen angel. Beyond having to do what you did to Blair, how could whatever happened to you be worse?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Well, if you are truly as broken as you think." Dean said and held up his new glass of whiskey. "Then welcome to the island of misfit toys."

Quinn smirked, "Did you really just make that reference?"

"It was popular when we were kids and TV was often our babysitter." Dean answered and downed the rest of the drink before switching moods. "Seriously though, we understand broken."

"I'm starting to get that."

Dean smiled at Quinn yet again, there's something about this girl. When he's around her, he hurts a little bit less. It didn't matter how broken Quinn thought she was, her presence was mending Dean. Slowly but surely, Quinn was fixing a part of Dean that he thought was destroyed a long time ago.

With a few more drinks in Dean's system Quinn decided that it was probably time to take him home. He paid his tab and left a generous tip. This time Quinn had to help Dean as they walked back to the car, he pulled the keys out of his pocket and held them out towards Quinn.

"You drive baby home."

Quinn took the keys from Dean, "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Getting into the driver's seat as Dean took shotgun was strange. Even with Dean's permission and elevated blood-alcohol level, Quinn was still hesitant to drive the Impala. Anyone who has met Dean and has been near this car knows that this is truly his baby. With a deep breath Quinn started the engine and carefully made her way out of the bar's parking lot. Although every fiber of her being was screaming to just rip through the back roads, Quinn took the slow short way back to the motel.

Certainly Dean was a bit off because he had been drinking, but this did give him some time to think. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Dean defiantly had feelings for Quinn, feelings he hadn't really felt for another woman since Lisa. There was the main core of his issues, besides Lisa he had never been in any sort of long term relationship and frankly given the events with the last few women he was with, he was surprisingly a little bit gun shy. He didn't want those feelings again because he was afraid of all the different ways that this could end badly.

Little did he know that Quinn was battling the same conflicting feelings. Deep down there were things that she was beginning to feel for Dean that she had honestly never felt for another man before. Like Dean, she also knew that it would probably be safest for him if she didn't attempt to act on these feelings, to just keep them bottled up and deal with them in some unhealthy manner later on, probably drinking and a lot of one nights stands with strange men.

Pulling up to the motel they guessed that Sam was asleep, all of the windows were dark. Quinn picked the spot that they were in before and went around to help Dean, who was now incredibly intoxicated, out of the car.

"Alright Dean, let's get you to bed." Quinn said as she pulled the grown man out of the car. Right as she unlocked the motel door, Dean pushed it closed and prevent her from opening it again. "Come on, you have sleep."

"No, I need to tell you something first." He said and sounded surprisingly sober.

"What?"

"I know what you said before, but I have feelings for you Quinn, strong feelings." Dean replied. "And they have been so confusing and frustrating and I haven't felt this way in a long time, if ever."

"Dean, you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk." Dean said sternly as he grabbed her shoulder, both for contact and stability. "I feel something for you Quinn and if you say that you don't feel something for me too, you're lying."

"Fine, I have feelings for you too, but…"

Instead of letting her speak Dean pressed his lips to hers. Quinn did not protest, there was no need to, she wanted this just as bad as he did. They were lying before when they said that this was nothing or when Dean told Sam that his feelings were only temporary and they could no longer deny it. When they stopped Quinn looked up into Dean's eyes, there was a spark there, something you don't get with some random person. Silently as she collapsed into Dean's arms she felt that maybe he was helping to fix her too.

The moment proved to be short-lived as Quinn started to feel Dean's body weighing down on her, he wasn't passed out yet, but it wouldn't be long. Helping Dean into bed she banged her shin on the metal bedframe, the sound didn't faze Dean one bit, but did wake Sam. From his bed he watched as Quinn helped Dean into bed before kissing his forehead and walking back outside. The crappy motel mattress squeaked as Sam sat up and put on his shoes, but he didn't worry because by this point Dean was out cold. Outside he found Quinn sitting against the wall next to their door, Sam shut the door behind him and stood across from Quinn. Using her sleeves as tissue Quinn quickly wiped her face.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, just processing everything." She choked out.

"Do you mind if we talk?"

"No, can you help me up?"

Sam grabbed Quinn's hand and helped her up off the ground, "I know Dean doesn't want me asking, but what in the hell was that today and what about everything with Cass?"

"Honestly Sam, it's better if you don't know."

"Few things in this world actually scare Dean and I, you can trust us."

"Can I trust you Sam?" It wasn't necessarily a question of fear or trust, but she often found that the truth wasn't always the best thing.

"Of course you can, we're already taking you on the road with us to protect you, we should have the right to know what's going on and what's after us."

"Tell me Sam, when you tell people the truth, whether or not they think they can handle it, does it ever end well?" Quinn questioned, already knowing that the answer Sam would probably give her would be similar to her own. "For normal people honesty is the best policy, but it isn't always for us."

"What makes us so different?"

"Because we already know truths that most people never will." Quinn answered matter-of-factly. "I've kept the thing at bay for ten days…"

Sam interrupted her, "It almost killed us today!"

"Up until now I was doing just fine, but you had to put those protection symbols all over the walls!"

"You passed out on the bed and we had a job, what else were we supposed to do?" Sam asked. "We were protecting you, just like we promised that we would."

"I never asked you to. I told you not to get involved and that I could handle this."

"Well I'm sorry that my brother thought it would be right to try and keep you safe!"

"If you two don't shut up right now I'm gonna call the cops!" The person in the room next to theirs yelled from the other side of the door.

Taking in a deep breath, Quinn calmed down before Sam did, "Honestly, I am thankful for all that you and Dean have done, but please just understand that when you need to know something I will tell you, until that point just let it go."

"I just don't know if I can keep this up knowing that you're withholding information from us."

"It's not pertinent information, as long as you let me do what I have to do and we keep moving, we will all be safe."

Sam was finally calm as well, but still had one more burning question, "And how do I know that I can trust you? That we can trust you?"

"I don't want to hurt you or Dean, nor do I want to see either of you get hurt by anything else and I will do anything and everything in my power to keep that from happening." Quinn answered. "I guess you just have to believe that."

Not another word was spoken, Sam went back into the motel room and got back into bed, although he was not able to go to sleep as easily as his brother, who was quietly snoring in the bed next to him. As he starred at the popcorn ceiling his mind began to race, he really did want to believe Quinn, but there was still something off and he just couldn't shake. While Sam tried to sleep Quinn left the motel and walked around the quiet little town, knowing that this was the best way for her to clear her head. Though she never lied to the Winchesters, she hadn't been telling them the full truth and she knew that she would have to eventually, but over the course of the last few hours she knew that they couldn't be kept in the dark for long.


	3. Turn the Page

This is a fictional story based on the popular television show Supernatural. The characters of Sam and Dean Winchester, along with Castiel, are products of the brilliant mind of Eric Kripke. As is the base story line of two rouge brothers on a cross-country road trip, hunting monsters/demons/anything that needs to be taken care of/etc. and befriending odd angels. However, all new characters introduced in this story including, but not limited to Quinn Gibson, Blair Francis, and Roxanne Loraine, are products of my own imagination and creation; as well as the added story line. I do claim and reserve my rights to these new ideas. All characters are fictional. Any relation to another person, character, or story line are purely coincidental.

I also kindly ask that any and all criticisms remain positive and/or constructive. About a decade ago I had a really bad experience when my friend read my work and this is the first time anyone is reading anything of mine besides scholastic papers.

Now that all of that is over, please enjoy my story.

* * *

On a picturesque street in middle-America a man in a suit walks up the steps of a craftsman style home with a big smile on his face. Stepping into the house he is greeted with a kiss on the cheek by his wife and a hug from his young son that barely comes up to his waist, the perfect little family.

"You worked late today." The wife said as her husband followed her into the kitchen, loosening his necktie.

"We had to work on a deposition that ran late." He told her.

"Daddy, look what I made today." The young boy presented his father with a finger painting. "For you."

"Wow, that's beautiful Brandon, thank you."

"Okay buddy, go upstairs and finish your reading." The wife told their son. "Dinner will be on the table in ten."

"Chelsea, I'm sorry it's so late." The husband said.

"It's alright Patrick, I know this is what you have to do." She told him and kissed the top of his head. "Just try not to make a habit out of it, alright?"

The husband smiled, "Of course I won't."

A few moments later she started to plate the dinner that she just finished preparing for her family.

"Honey would you mind getting Brandon?" She asked.

"Sure thing." He answered, but right as he walked into the living room before going upstairs to fetch his young son, the boy was standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey buddy, I didn't hear you come down."

"Daddy, I think I saw something outside of my window."

"It was probably a cat or something, come on inside."

"It looked like a monster then it looked like me." The boy told his father, fear emanating from him.

Slowly the father knelt down, so he was eyelevel with his son, "Buddy, monsters aren't real, surely not ones that will transform into you."

"Are you sure about that?" The boy asked as his face morphed into an exact replica of his father's.

It took a few seconds, but the husband finally let out a scream. Quickly the wife dashed into the room and the sight of her husband staring at her husband was too much and she fainted. The neighbors heard the commotion and promptly called the police, who were at the house within minutes. Inside they found the wife slain, her body drenched in a pool of her own blood, her husband and young son were nowhere in sight. As luck would have it, the Winchesters were in town, still on the lam, and caught wind of the crime, flashing their fake badges and winning smiles to gain entry into the suspicious scene.

"The wife was murdered and the husband and the boy is missing." An officer told Sam and Dean, filling them in on the current situation. "A neighbor heard the commotion and called us, by the time we got there whoever did this was long gone."

"Have there been any leads on their whereabouts?" Sam asked, taking the wheel because Dean has been under the weather the last couple days. Theirs is a difficult lifestyle and they're bound to get sick every once in a while.

"None, we put out an alert, but no one was seen going in or out of the house and there was no vehicle outside." The officer answered. "We were acting under the assumption that this was the husband, but that is too much blood for one body, so we are lost."

"Anything else weird happen?"

"Well, it's the damndest thing," The officer answered and took his sunglasses off and used them to point at the house. "There was no sign of forced entry and the lab reports are coming back on the knife that was allegedly used to stab them, the father's fingerprints are all over it."

Sam was confused, "Well, you said he's missing, he could have just been injured."

"There is a lot of blood though."

"Yeah, you're right about that." Dean chimed in, feeling a bit nauseous at the sight of all the blood.

"I hate to say it, but do you think it could be the kid?" Sam asked.

"We grabbed a few samples and sent them in for testing, we'll let you know when we have an answer."

"Thank you."

"Welcome boys." Then the officer began muttering to himself and scratching his head, "Damndest thing."

At the same time the brothers walked away from the house and back towards their car, Dean pulled a crumpled tissues out of his pocket, blew his nose, and disposed of it in a conveniently placed trashcan right next to their car. Unfortunately Dean had all of the classic flu symptoms, everything from the runny nose to the occasional bouts of serve nausea, but this didn't stop him from going on the hunt, no matter how much Sam protested.

"Dean, do you really think that we should be working on this case? Sam asked. "You seem pretty sick."

"Dude, I'm not that sick."

"It doesn't matter how sick you are, you're still sick, and in our line of work that causes you to make mistakes and when you make mistakes you get hurt."

"Don't worry about me, if I need to take a break I'll take a break." Dean said as he sped down the highway. "Okay Sam?"

"Yeah, just don't let it get too bad." Sam said, knowing that Dean wouldn't want to take a break. "Think this is another succubus?"

Honestly the thought hadn't even crossed Dean's mind, "What?"

"Come on think about it, the guy is missing and one could have easily abducted him, there are a few other people who have gone missing in the past couple week and for the most part they are all seem to fit the victim profile for a succubus."

"We could ask Quinn when we get back to the motel, see if she might know anything or anyone."

Sam groaned, "Do we really need to get Quinn involved again?"

"You're the one who brought up the stupid succubus thing and if we have the succubus-whisperer with us, we might as well use her to our advantage."

"I don't think we have to take it that far, do we really need her help on this?"

"Are you still going on about that?"

"Yes Dean, I am and your time is almost up, you need to start asking questions because we can't keep going on like this without some answers."

"Believe it or not I am well aware of the time crunch, but I am going to hold out on this one as long as possible."

"Just because you're dating her." Sam told him matter-of-factly.

"I don't know if I would call it dating."

"Closest thing to dating you've done in a long time."

Dean shrugged, Sam's not wrong. "Listen, I know things are crazy right now, but I am a man of my word and you will have your answers soon."

"About damn time." Sam said under his breath.

"But keep that up and you won't get any." Dean said and smiled at his younger brother, "Bet that's not the first time that you've heard that."

"Very funny Dean." Sam sneered.

Dean coughed, "Just trying to break the tension Sammy."

For as much as Sam wanted to be mad with Quinn for keeping secrets and Dean overlooking whatever it is, this is the happiest that Sam has seen Dean in a long time, sick or not, and he doesn't want to completely ruin all of that. But that doesn't mean Sam can't be upset about the fact that Quinn's keeping secrets and Dean has a blind spot when it comes to Quinn. Try as he might to not let those feelings show through, they do come up, it isn't always easy for Sam to hide his emotions, especially from his brother.

"I know that she's not your favorite person, I really do." Dean finally decided to have a serious conversation with Sam about this. "But no matter how you feel there is still something after her and I still have feelings for her and neither of these things are easy to change. So please Sam, just do this for me."

"Alright, I don't like and I don't fully agree with it, but I'll do it."

"Thank you."

Even though the brothers knew about the blood spell, Quinn had to keep it up to insure their safety and was still spending a lot of time sleeping. When she's not sleeping she tends to stay in the hotel room, partially to serve as a base of operation and she knows that her relationship with Dean is causing some tension, so it's best that Sam and Dean do some things on their own. While the brothers were checking out the case Quinn was scouring the internet for information on the victims from this alleged home invasion and anything that had happened prior to this that seemed suspicious, giving Sam and Dean plenty of time to talk to people and search the town.

"So this couple, it wasn't another family member that killed them, they're all out of town." Dean said, thinking about to what the officer told them. "She was a stay at home mom, he worked at a law firm where everyone loved him, and their kid didn't really have any enemies in school, so what happened to them?"

"Or what took them?" Sam questioned.

"Or took them."

"That's why I thought maybe it was a succubus."

"What about the women that were killed?"

"That's a valid point, what if it's an incubus and a succubus together?" Sam asked, running over the facts in his mind. "Do they really work that way?"

"There is one person we could call."

Sam sighed, "You're right, we do need her now."

Being that they were right next to a grocery store Dean pulled into the parking lot, maybe after his phone conversation with Quinn he could stop in and grab something for lunch or pie, defiantly pie and probably something else to go along with it. Towards the end of the aisle Dean found a parking spot away from everyone else, so that the phone conversation was more private and there was less of a chance of someone hurting his car.

"Hey Dean, what do you need?" Quinn answered after a couple rings and immediately Dean could tell that she had been sleeping.

"I got a couple questions for you."

She yawned, "Shoot."

"We're working that murdered mom and missing dad and kid thing." Dean answered, rubbing his thumb along the worn steering wheel. "Even though we're not exactly sure what we're dealing with yet, some of the signs point to a succubus or incubus or a team of two or more."

"With you so far."

"Do they ever work together?"

"Some do."

"Are there any in this area?"

"A couple that I know of, but they are all guys."

"Can they ever take on the shape of other people?"

"Sometimes they can transform themselves to look like a perfect mate, if they're powerful enough." She answered and started brewing a fresh pot of coffee.

"But not a person specifically."

"No, not like transform into another person."

"Great, so this probably isn't an incubus."

"I'm guessing it isn't, I looked into the history somewhat and this doesn't quite fit into the incubus M.O." She took a big sip of coffee. "Though when we look for the fantastic the mundane is often overlooked."

Dean smiled, "Sweetheart, nothing about our life is mundane."

"Alright, wrong wording." She paused for a moment. "I think you are stuck on the succubus or incubus thing because of my case and the last one with the crazy smoke. Now you're reaching for connections with them and trying to find a way to make them fit."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I'm up now so I'll keep digging, but call if you need anything."

"Will do, thanks Quinn."

"Welcome Dean." She said and they hung up the phone at the same time.

Sam looked to his brother, "Let me guess, not a succubus."

"Or an incubus." Dean added.

"What did she say then?"

"That when we look for the fantastic the mundane is often overlooked."

As Sam thought about it, he understood what she was trying to tell them, but all the while he was wondering what they could have possibly overlooked. Deep in thought, Sam was oblivious to a man identical to the male murder victim passing in front of their car, however Dean recognized him right away.

"Hey, do you remember them saying anything about Patrick having a twin?" Dean asked.

"No, he doesn't have any male siblings, why?"

"Because he just passed by the front of our car."

"No way."

"Yeah, he's walking into the grocery store."

"Should we follow him?" Sam asked, right away he knew that this was a stupid question.

"I think we have to."

Swiftly they exited the vehicle and followed the man into the grocery store, always staying just a few steps behind him. Most of what he picked up were sugary treats that any kid would love to eat all day, but most parents would never allow in such large quantities. Although it's not something that they discussed at the time, it was something that both found a bit peculiar. When the man got in the line they snuck around behind the candy aisle next to him.

"Good afternoon Mr. Meyers." The checker said as she rung up his items.

"Good afternoon, lovely day out, isn't it?" He replied cheerfully.

"That guy's name was Patrick Meyers, right?" Dean whispered to Sam.

"Yeah, I think so."

This strange man passed by them and they followed him outside and got back into their car. Stealthily they exited the parking lot and followed the car and did so for quite a while, going through the entirety of the city and passing by at least one wheat field. It was when the man pulled down a small dirty road that they stopped, they couldn't go down there unarmed and it seemed that this was most likely his base of operation. Instead of pressing onward to the house they turned around to arm themselves for an inevitable fight.

Halfway between the house and the hotel, Sam's cell phone started to ring.

"Agent Dylan speaking." Sam said.

"Agent, we got the blood results back." The officer said. "It was a mixture of the husband and wife's blood, every sample, there's no way that the husband could have survived that too."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, we don't know what happened to him, but we can safely say there is a slim chance that he's alive."

"Not the news we wanted to hear, but thank you for the update."

"You're welcome, we'll keep you posted."

"Thanks." Sam said, hanging up the phone.

"Let me guess, not good." Dean said.

"All samples were a mixture of the husband and wife's blood." Sam replied. "There's no way that he could have survived that much blood loss."

"I think we both know what this thing might be." Dean said and Sam nodded. "And we know that there is no way that this thing is surviving any longer."

"Agreed."

Alone in the motel room, the only thing left for Quinn were her thoughts and they were not quiet. Everything that she was trying to process seemed to contradict something else, it was enough to drive most people insane, but she is used to an internal battle of this caliper. That is, until a certain someone unexpectedly appeared by the door.

"Castiel, can we please not do this today?" She knew exactly why he was here, but still was surprised to see him show up.

"Your time is up Quinn, you have to tell them."

"I can't do that right now." There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Just a few more days."

"No, not with Dean this ill."

"I'm trying Cass, I know it doesn't seem like it, but I am." Tears rolled down Quinn's cheeks. "I beg you, just two or three more days."

"I would be more lenient if Dean was in better health, but not in his current state."

"You know what they'll do to me."

"If I know the Winchesters, and I do, Dean won't let that happen." Cass began to soften a little bit, because to some degree he does understand the situation. "But you cannot keep lying to them."

"I'm not lying to them."

"It's a lie by omission."

Quinn was well aware, but it wasn't something that she was going to admit out loud. Secrets are toxic in any relationship and not just ones that are romantic. Not only does this omission keep Dean at a distance from Quinn, but it's causing a rift between Sam and Dean as well, something she never wanted to happen.

"I don't know what to do."

"Tell them, it will be difficult at first, but in the end it will be healthier for all of you."

"Can you be here when it happens?"

Cass sighed, even he found himself feeling some sort of empathy for Quinn, "Yes, but if you don't tell them, I will. I just want you to understand that."

"I understand."

"Then I must be going, just call when you need me, I'll be listening."

With Cass gone Quinn sat down on the edge of the bed and rested her head in her hands, doing all she could to keep herself from crying. Before she had the chance to try and recompose herself, the front door flew open and the Winchesters stormed in. Totally ignoring Quinn at first, they moved around the room, gathering items and taking them out to the car. But Dean stopped when he finally saw what state Quinn was in.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just tired and there was a sad movie on TV, and my emotions got the best of me." Sam noticed that the TV wasn't on and the remote was by his bed, right where it was when he left the motel before. Just as he was about to ask Quinn about this, she started talking again, "What are you two doing?"

"There's a shifter outside of town and we're going to go kill it." Dean answered. "Want to come with?"

"No, I think I should just stay put for right now."

"If you say so." He said and kissed the top of her head. "We're off, see you in a while."

"If you're not back by sunrise I'll coming looking for you." She said as he crossed the door's threshold.

"Thanks." The door closed behind him and she was once more the only one left in the motel room.

Staying in her spot, she fell backward onto the bed and closed her eyes. What she has to tell them is not simple and it is going to be a long time before things can be normal again, if ever. Given Dean's feelings he might not be too upset, but Sam is going to be the one that really needs convincing. Each new thought is a new weight on Quinn's chest and it's getting harder to breathe, until she ultimately decides that what she needs right now is sleep.

"She wasn't watching TV, Dean." Sam said, staring out the windshield as they reached the beginning of the wheat field.

"What?"

"She said that she was watching TV, but the TV wasn't on." Sam answered. "And the remote was in the same place it was when we left this morning, next to my bed."

"What are you getting at, Sam?"

"She lied to us about watching TV."

"Maybe it was something else and she just didn't want to admit it."

"There seems to be a lot of that and you know what?" Sam asked, but gave Dean no time to answer. "Your time is up, if we don't any new information voluntarily today, I'm asking questions."

"Come on Sam, don't start with that again."

Sam raised his voice, "How are you blind to all this?"

"Stop Sam! I don't want to fight so close to a hunt, I'm already pissed enough!"

Sinking back into his seat Sam was clenching his jaw, but remained silent. His brother was right, they couldn't go into this without a clear mind, that's how they get hurt. Rather, it makes them not pay attention and that causes them to get hurt or worse. Besides, Dean is already sick and shouldn't be doing this anyway, but there was no way Sam could make him stay away.

Pulling up to the house was ominous as dusk covered it in darkness. Now they would have to work quick, otherwise they would be at a severe disadvantage. Walking up to the house they noticed that there were a few dim lights, but the car from before was nowhere to be seen. Dean motioned for Sam to go around to the back door, he would take the front. Backing up against the wall, Dean tried the knob on the front door, which turned and opened immediately. In his mind he is hoping that whatever is here is squatting, because that was way too easy. Sam must have breached the back with similar ease, because he and Dean entered the living room at nearly the same time.

Although nothing seemed to be occupying the house at the current time, they were still cautious, terrified that every creek of the house was the shifter sneaking up on them. Reluctantly they traveled upstairs and went into what they believed to be the master bedroom. Inside there was a mattress with bedding on the floor and an alarm clock next to it and one bookcase, but other than these pieces there was no other furniture. Examining the bookcase thy could tell that this room served a much different and more disturbing purpose.

On each shelf were jars of various sizes and shapes, all containing some sort of DNA sample in some medium, most likely formaldehyde. Many of them were stuffed with hair or finger nails, there were a few partially filled with blood and others contained pieces of flesh, muscle, or fat. These were all quite disturbing, even to them, but there were some that were worse.

"Is that an eyeball?" Sam asked, his light illuminating a jar with a small a floating sphere. The very sight was enough to make his stomach turn.

"And that looks like a piece of tongue." Dean said, shining his light on a jar with a small triangular piece of tissue that looked like the tip of the body part.

"Who would do this?"

"Shifters, man."

"This is a bit much though, even for a shifter."

"Hello." A small voice called out.

"Did you hear that?" Sam asked and listened for the voice again.

"Hello." The same voice called out again.

Sam and Dean immediately split up and scrambled to find where that was coming from, because it sounded like a live small child. All of the other doors in the upper level of them home were locked, but that hasn't stopped the Winchesters before, so when it was needed, they just broke down the doors.

In the first room, Sam found a small boy. Junk food wrappers and empty soda cans surrounded him and he was cowering in the corner, his eyes locked on Sam.

"Were you the one calling for us?" Sam asked softly.

"You're not my dad." The boy told Sam, as if Sam did not already know.

"No, no I'm not, but I'm here to help." Sam told him. "My name is Sam, what's yours?"

"Brandon Meyers."

It hit Sam right away, this is the missing kid, "Can you tell me who's been keeping you here?"

"My dad."

Brandon's answer immediately threw up red flags, because his father is dead. That means the shifter is masquerading as his father, but why?

"Listen, Brandon, I know he looks a lot like your dad, but he isn't."

"I know he isn't."

"How do you know?"

"Dad always calls me Brandon or buddy, but he's called me kid since we got here."

More red flags, usually shifters do their best to act like the person they have transformed into. Sam did his best to stay calm while trying to piece together the puzzle, but there wasn't enough time, he had to get Brandon out of here.

"Brandon, I'm going to get you out of here, alright?"

"Alright."

"Okay good."

Sam scooped the boy up and carried him into the hallway. Just as he closed the door behind him he was joined by Dean and two other children, one was passed out in his arms and the other was following close behind. It wasn't the time for questions, so they quickly went out to the car and stashed the kids in the backseat.

"Sam, this is worse than we thought." Dean said as they stood outside the Impala to have a short conversation. "One of the rooms I went into had large bloodstains on the floor and ankle restraints on the wall."

"That's not good."

"Yeah, but think about what can change shape and likes to eat people."

The thought alone caused a sickening feeling in both brothers, "Leviathan."

"I thought all their happy little asses were shot back to purgatory."

"I guess some lingered around."

"I'm going to have Quinn pick up some borax while we drop these kids off at the police station."

"I'll call her now, you start driving, because we have to beat this thing back here."

Dean drove away from the house as fast as possible and as far as he could tell the thing wasn't trailing them. Not that he ever thought it was, but it's nice to know that they're in the clear.

"Quinn, we need you to pick up some borax and meet us at the police station. We have a dire situation and I can't explain right now." Sam said as he glanced in the review mirror and listened to Quinn. "Alright, see you soon."

"I have some spare borax in the glove box." Dean whispered to Sam.

"Guys, show me your hands," Sam requested and the children complied. He squeezed a drop of borax into one little hand and thankfully there were no adverse reactions. "Thanks guys."

They got the children to the local police station without issue, but when they walked in with three children the officers were very surprised.

"Agents, how did you?" The officer in the front room asked.

"We found them in an abandoned house outside of the city." Sam answered. "We have reason to believe that the perpetrator is on the run, so we will fill out a report when we get back."

"You have to do it now."

"There's no time." Dean said as he walked out with his brother. "When we find something we'll call you."

Outside they met Quinn at the car with a jug of household cleaner in hand.

"Fellas get yourself in a little leviathan trouble?"

"How'd you know?" Dean asked.

"It's my job to know." Quinn answered and placed the cleaner in his hands. "I saw you walk in there with those kids, you kill that son of a bitch."

"I'll do my best."

"And be safe." She said and kissed him.

From her spot she watched them drive away again before walking back to the motel. The abandoned house was in the same state it was when Sam and Dean left and there was still no car outside. Dean parked around back, hoping that the monster was going to take the front steps. Lucky for them, this gave Sam and Dean the perfect opportunity to hide and wait for the thing, giving them the upper hand. Sam grabbed the cleaning agent and Dean grabbed a machete out of the trunk and together they hid out in the room where Sam found Brandon.

"I'm sorry for fighting earlier Sam, my time is up and Quinn is doing better, I shouldn't have tried to go back on my word." Dean confessed as they waited for the leviathan. "Part of me just doesn't want to know some answers."

It was a bit difficult for Sam to believe that his brother was being this forthcoming, but he was going to take whatever he got. When Dean said that there was some answers that he didn't want to know, Sam understood that too, there were times that he wished that he could live in ignorance like a majority of the population.

"I understand, but I think if we want to keep going we can't be kept in the dark." Sam said and smiled. "And thanks for the apology."

"Alright, alright, we're not getting all mushy before we have to kill this thing."

"Hey man, you're the one that started it."

Outside a car door closed and they could hear someone walking up the front steps. Sam turned around and peered out the window, the car that the creature was driving around during the day was parked right in front of the house. Turning back around he prepped for the inevitable fight alongside Dean. Listening to his footsteps as he walked around downstairs for a little bit and then come upstairs felt like an eternity. If they were to jump out at him though they would lose the element of surprise, they just have to just be patient.

"Kid, I brought you dinner." A man said and stopped at the door, Sam and Dean knew that he could tell the doors had been broken in. The door flew open and they were face to face with what appeared to be Patrick Meyers.

This creature was surprised to see the Winchesters standing there and lunged to attack them, but Sam doused him with the cleaning agent and he tumbled to the floor, but he got up because he was not about to go down without a fight. Just as Dean went for him with the machete, the leviathan grabbed his arm and pulled. Not only did this dislocate Dean's shoulder, but Patrick sank his fingernails into Dean's forearm and tore the flesh. The sudden and immense pain resulted in Dean dropping the machete and falling to the floor next to it. With his brother incapacitated, Sam grabbed the machete and cut the head off of the beast and put it in the box that they brought with them.

"Sam, we gotta go." Dean said, clutching his injured arm. "The cops are going to catch wind of all this, so we need to torch the house."

"How's your arm?"

"In a lot of pain." Dean answered as they left the house. "When we get outside you help me with my shoulder, then bury the head, I'll start burning the house down."

"Got it." Sam said and set the box down near their car.

Dean braced himself against the car as Sam popped his dislocated shoulder back into place, but there was nothing they could do about his forearm right now. Once Sam knew that his brother was more or less okay, he went out into the field with the head in a box. Meanwhile Dean grabbed some dry wheat and some accelerant from the trunk, he piled the brush in front of the door and started there with the accelerant and made a perimeter around the house. As Sam came around to the front of the house Dean was lighting a book of matches and throwing them into the pile of dried foliage. For a few minutes they stood and watched flames engulf the first floor of the house.

"By the time the cops get here it should be burned to the ground." Sam said.

"Sometimes a drought is not a bad thing." Dean said.

Even though it was not something that he wanted to do, Dean turned the keys over to Sam, there was no way he was driving with his wounded arm. From the moment of his injury, Dean kept his arm tight to his chest, but it still hurt and was still bleeding. After a few glances over at Dean, Sam recognized that Dean was still having issues.

"Hold it above your heart, that should help the bleeding until we get back to the motel." Sam said and Dean did as he was told.

"I'm hoping Cass can do something about this." Dean said.

Not hearing from Sam and Dean after so long began to worry Quinn, especially with the knowledge that they were up against a leviathan that is for, some reason or another, still walking this Earth. No matter what state the brothers were in when they got home, she knew that they were going to have to have a talk. Cass wasn't going to grant her any leniency and now she's just thinking about how lucky she is to have gotten to spend this time with them. Of all the difficult decisions and tough choices that she's had to make in her life, this was one to be one of the worst. All of her life Quinn has kept her distance from people, because she knew that she would either hurt them or tell them something they didn't want to hear and they would inevitably leave. Before this she's never had to do the latter, because she never allowed herself to get close enough to someone for that. This is a game changer and not a good one.

Patiently she waited, if they were home by morning she would do something. In the moments leading up to their arrival, Quinn spent her time pacing around the motel room, working out exactly what to say in her mind. Deep in the pit of her stomach was a sickening feeling and she ran to the bathroom, but since she had been too nervous to eat for the last few hours, there was nothing to lose. Making some sort of effort to calm herself down she splashed some cold water on her face and then there was the distinct sound of a key in the doorknob, they were home.

"Hey guys." Quinn said as she walked out of the bathroom, but then saw Dean's bloodied shirt sleeve. "Holy crap, what happened?"

"Leviathan scratched me." Dean answered, sitting down on the bed.

"And dislocated his shoulder, but we fixed that." Sam answered.

Quinn knew that she needed to tell them and she said she would today, but not with Dean like this. Quietly she started to hyperventilate and as she tried to get her bearings, Cass appeared in the room.

"Cass, just the man I wanted to see." Dean said and held up his arm. "Can you fix this?"

"One moment." Cass said and touched Dean's forehead, thus healing the wounds on Dean's arm.

"Huh." Dean said as he looked at his arm.

"What?"

"I've been fighting this bug for a few days and I thought it might help that too."

"Uh…" Cass said and glanced towards Quinn.

"Can I talk to you guys?" Quinn asked.

"We just got off the hunt and I just got my arm angel-healed, can it wait a few?" Dean asked.

She was wringing her hands and wasn't making eye contact with anyone in the room, "It's kind of important."

"What's going on?"

"Quinn, it'll be alright." Cass said. Now Sam and Dean knew there was something that both Quinn and Cass were not telling them.

"Seriously, what the hell is going on?"

"Just give me a second." Quinn answered and took a few deep breaths. "I'm a succubus."

"What?" Both Winchesters asked at the same time.

"And you knew about this?" Dean asked Cass.

"Yes, but she asked me not to say anything, but I told her that it was something that couldn't remain secret." Cass answered, surprised that Dean turned on him.

Sam seemed to catch on before Dean did, "This is why you've been sick Dean, she's draining you!"

"But not on purpose, I want to make that very clear." Quinn said.

"But you still knew that you were?"

"Listen, this is just ending bad all over the place, I called a cab, I'll be in the little motel down the street if you need anything." Quinn said and grabbed her bag that she stashed in the top drawer.

"Quinn, don't go." Dean said.

She kissed Dean's cheek and backed away towards the door, "I have to."

With those final words she walked out, leaving the three men alone in the motel. Dean got up and followed her out, but she turned around and looked at him with tears in her eyes. Contrary to what it seemed, he did understand what she had to do and that he was not letting her go for good.

"What the hell Sam?" Dean asked as he came back in the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Keep it down in there!" A woman said on the other side of the wall.

"Screw you!" Dean said and turned his attention back to his brother. "Seriously Sam, what the hell?"

"She's a succubus Dean, a succubus." Sam said, under the assumption that Dean still didn't understand the gravity of the situation.

"Uh, Sam." Cass said.

"We hunt things like her, hell, we hunter one of her own kind with her help." Sam is the angriest that he has been in a long time. "That's why she knew so damn much about these things."

"Sam."

"I can't believe you Dean, we both knew something was off, but you didn't want to see it." Sam was off on a tangent and wasn't going to listen to anyone else until he got everything off his chest. "What about Madison? Or Ruby or Amy? All of the crap that you gave me about them."

"Sam!"

"What?"

"You're wrong."

"Wrong about what?"

"She's not entirely a succubus, she's really only half."

"Does that matter?"

"Yes and no."

"But there's still some succubus in there."

"Yes."

"Then, we have to do something."

"We're not doing anything." Dean said. "At least, nothing bad."

"You are not thinking about this in the right mindset Dean." Sam told him.

"I'm sorry, I want to keep the woman I have feelings for safe?"

"Not if she's a monster."

"She's not a monster!" Dean said and walked over to their angel friend. "Cass, heal me."

"I, I can't do that." Cass said.

"Yes you can, now heal me."

"Dean, this is not something that can simply be healed, like your arm."

"I'm getting her back." Dean said as he grabbed his jacket. For some reason neither Sam, nor Cass, stopped Dean from walking out the door.

"Was that an overreaction?" Sam asked Cass.

"You did call her a monster." Cass answered. "Even I know that's bad."

"But Cass, we hunt things like her." Sam said. "Dean's always been so freaking adamant about that, we had to kill Madison and he killed Amy."

"Maybe this one can be different."

"How do you know?"

"Because, she's trying to be." Cass answered and disappeared.

Now Sam was the one in the hotel alone with his thoughts and he quickly realized that maybe he could've taken a more delicate approach instead of turning into a huge ass. While he stands by most of what he said and he doesn't know if he can trust Quinn ever again, he will be there for his brother.

The motel that Quinn was staying at was only about two small blocks down from theirs and it only took a few minutes for Dean to get there. Getting out of the car he realized that he didn't know exactly what room Quinn was in, but he's not above knocking on all of the doors until he finds the right one.

One door had a small note taped to the front. Inside in Quinn's hand writing it simply stated '_I'm here_.' After a deep breath Dean knocked on the door. A tearful Quinn opened it, but smiled when she saw Dean standing in the doorway. Immediately she threw her arms around him and kissed him.

"I'm so sorry I didn't say anything."

"Don't worry about it." He said and kissed her again.(We've Got Tonight by Bob Seger)

In a steamy embrace they fell onto the bed. Knowing what Quinn was didn't seem to faze Dean, as long as she didn't kill him or purposefully hurt him, he didn't care. If she wanted to do any of that she would have by now, but he knows that this is something that she truly wants and it's something that he truly wants too. Just on the edge of sleep, Quinn rested her head on Dean's chest, this was the only place that either of them wanted to be.


	4. Shouldn't Be

**This is a fictional story based on the popular television show Supernatural. The characters of Sam and Dean Winchester, along with Castiel, are products of the brilliant mind of Eric Kripke. As is the base story line of two rouge brothers on a cross-country road trip, hunting monsters/demons/anything that needs to be taken care of/etc. and befriending odd angels. However, all new characters introduced in this story including, but not limited to Quinn Gibson, are products of my own imagination and creation; as well as the added story line. I do claim and reserve my rights to these new ideas. All characters are fictional. Any relation to another person, character, or story line are purely coincidental.**

**Sorry about getting this by so late, if anyone is following this story. I am really going to try to be better at updating this, I swear. **

**Now that all of that is over, please enjoy my story.**

* * *

For once Dean tried to be up before Sam would be in hopes that he could get to the motel first thing and try to either reason with Sam or deflect some of the animosity that he most likely still felt towards Quinn. Someone somewhere must have been looking out for him, because when Dean walked into the motel room, Sam was still fast asleep. Quietly he started to pack a few of his items, hoping that if the transition is quick they won't put a heavy focus on how awkward it is. Whether or not Sam is happy about it, they're still going to have to watch over Quinn, but Dean knows that Sam is going to fight it every step of the way.

"Morning." Sam said as he sat up in bed. "Glad to see you didn't spend the night with Quinn."

"Oh, I did."

"Are you kidding me?"

Dean stopped packing and looked at Sam, "What did you think was going to happen?"

"Maybe once you found out what she is you would end the romantic part of your relationship." Sam answered and quizzically looked at Dean. "Please tell me that you are, at the very least, no longer sleeping with her."

Dean let out an uncomfortable laugh as he continued to pack, "Of course not."

"Dean." Sam knew that his brother just flat out lied to him.

"What?"

"I would hope that you would have the common sense to not sleep with a thing that is literally draining of whatever it is that she needs to survive."

"I'm fine." Dean had his back to Sam, so the younger Winchester couldn't see how much of a lie that was. "And she's not a thing, she's a person."

"She's a succubus." Sam whispered, as if someone was listening in.

This time Dean turned to correct his brother, "Half, half succubus and half human."

"What's the difference?" Sam asked.

"I'm not entirely sure Sam, but if you want to know so bad, why don't you ask her." Dean answered and zipped up his bag. "Although I don't see how our relationship is any of your business."

"When one party is essentially slowly killing the other party, I feel like it's time to intervene." Sam paused for a moment, deep in thought, "You know, I feel like I'm usually on the other end of these conversations."

"Pack your stuff, we gotta head out."

"With or without Quinn?"

"With Quinn, Sam, we're going with Quinn."

"Do you think we can still trust her?"

"Yes, we can still trust her, it's not like she's suddenly changed, she's still the same person." Dean told Sam before going out to the car. "Now, get your stuff together, she'll be here any minute."

With a heavy groan Sam got out of bed and went to the bathroom. While Sam got dressed Dean put everything of his in the car and waited outside for Quinn. To see her approaching was bittersweet for Dean, he is always happy to see her, but he is fully aware of what difficulties lie ahead, especially when it comes to bringing Sam around. They have never seen eye-to-eye on situations such as this and it is hard to have a discussion about something when it is thrust upon you without any real warning.

"I got your note." Quinn said as she handed Dean her duffle, so he could put it in the back of the Impala.

"Obviously." He said, uncharacteristically keeping his distance from her. "Listen, this is still a volatile situation with Sam, it may take a little coaxing to try and get him to even agree to bring you along."

"I understand, this isn't going to be easy."

"Did you ever think that it would be?" Dean asked as they walked around to the side of the car.

"No, but that's the difficulty with being half-human, I still having feelings about stuff." Quinn got into the backseat of the car, but kept the door open to talk to Dean.

"Yeah, I've actually been meaning to ask you how that all works…"

She watched as Sam walked out of the motel room towards the Impala, "We have company."

Immediately Dean shut the door and turned to his brother, "Come on Sammy, we're burning daylight."

"So, she's really coming with us?"

"Yes, for the last time, she really is coming with us." Dean answered. "No matter what the circumstances are, she still needs our protection and I still want to help her."

Sam let out a heavy sigh, "I still don't trust this, Dean."

"Believe it or not, I have heard you every single time you said that." Dean said as the pair walked to the trunk. "It may seem like I don't, but I do. There is still something after her and no matter what you say I am still going to have feelings for her. You might as well just deal with the fact that this is happening."

"I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it, but please just do me a solid and be okay with her riding along."

"Fine."

"Thank you."

Sam and Dean took their usual seats in the passenger and driver seat, respectively. The air was thick and tense, proving that this situation is just as awkward as predicted.

"Hey Sam." Quinn said, trying to break the ice and tension.

"Quinn." Sam mumbled from the passenger seat.

That's how far their initial conversation went, Quinn knew better than to poke the bear or rather the moose. Along down the road Quinn felt that enough time had passed and she wanted to try and strike up another conversation, hoping to clear the air.

"You know, Dean was beginning to ask me a question earlier and I think now would be the perfect time for that."

"Really?" Sam asked. "I mean you kept this a secret from us long enough."

"You're one to talk." Dean snapped.

"What was that?"

"How long did it take you to tell me about Ruby and the fact that you got back from hell?"

"I did that to protect you Dean."

Dean looked at him, then Sam realized that's the exact same thing that Quinn told them to explain her secrecy the previous evening.

"I reiterate, happy to answer all questions now." Quinn chimed in from the backseat.

Yet again the car was filled with an uncomfortable silence for quite a few miles. There were times that it would everything would feel better and times that it felt worse. To say that everyone was walking on eggshells would be putting it lightly.

Much to everyone's surprise, Sam became the one to speak, "What are you, exactly?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean you told us succubus, but Cass said you're only part."

"He's right, I'm half that and half human."

"Can that actually happen?"

"Not usually, but there are rare occurrences." She answered. "With my parents it was the age-old tale of boy falls in love with girl who is trying to steal his essence for sustenance and the girl falls in love with boy."

"I'd read that book." Dean said.

"You're living that book." Sam told him.

Dean shrugged, "It isn't bad."

"Anyway, when they found out my mom was pregnant, they had to get married, because it was the 50's and you had to be married before the baby." Quinn answered. "After I was born, she gave up her immortality and abilities to stay with my dad, but that didn't stop it from being ingrained into my DNA."

"Wait, you're fifty?" Dean asked.

"By the time a succubus or incubus mature, they stop aging. Since I'm half-human, I age about half the rate of a normal person, so I'm not immortal, but I'll get really old."

"You're seriously fifty years old?" It was a concept that Dean couldn't quite warp his head around.

"Yeah, technically fifty-five, but who's counting?"

Sam thought back to the conversation he was having with Dean in the motel, "So, what exactly is the difference between you and a full-blood succubus?"

"Whatever abilities I have are greatly diminished and I don't need the same amount of…sustenance."

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Not unless I was in danger, never the way that Blair did." The answer trudging up memories of her former best friend. "I actually hate that she did that."

"Have you ever used the binding symbol?"

"Nope, never did that either." She answered. "Since I'm half-human I do still have some humility, a stronger sense of right and wrong."

"Well, that's comforting."

"Honestly, I hate what I am, I would give almost anything to just let that part of myself go, but my mom has never told me exactly how she did it."

Now Sam began to feel some empathy for Quinn, for the first time since her confession, and he truly felt bad about constantly referring to her as a monster. A while ago he was in the same position and he was so quick to forget how terrible that felt. Maybe it was knowing that she wanted to change and the way that she said it, he could tell that it wasn't a lie. Like Dean, Sam was blind to Quinn's issues, but in a different way, he never stopped to consider how she felt about everything. Even though he had been in similar situations, his reactions to Quinn since she joined them on the road have always been negative.

"Maybe that's why she's want you to know, because you'd do anything." Sam said, offering an honest answer and trying to show a little bit more compassion.

"Makes sense."

Inside one half of a mid-century duplex, a younger man in his boxers and a t-shirt, walks to his couch with a beer and bowl of chips in hand. He switches the TV to the local sports channel in anticipation for the football game that is set to start at any moment. From behind him came a few loud creeks near the stairs, but he brushed it off as the house settling. This is still fairly new house to him and he's not quite used to all the noises yet. Although as it continued on through the first half of the game, he became uneasy.

During halftime he got up to use the bathroom and as he passed by the mirror there was a glimpse of a face, but when he turned to look, it was gone. In record time he did what he had to in the bathroom, without another look at the mirror, and raced back to the living room in time to watch the last half of the game.

Nestled safely on the couch once more, all of the noises stopped and when he muted the TV the house was dead silent. Then he heard breathing right next to his ear, sending a shudder down his spine. He tried his hardest to stay calm, but his heart was beating out of his chest.

"So, you like games?" A voice whispered.

Before he could answer an unseen force violently shoved the couch and it nearly hit the wall. He scrambled for his cell phone, knowing that there was one person he could call that would believe him.

"You know, you don't act like someone who's fifty." Dean said, still driving.

"Well, I can't, I have to keep up appearances and act like a twenty-something, you know with hashtags and selfies and YOLOs."

"YOLOs?" Sam and Dean asked at the same time.

"You only live once."

Both brothers broke out in laughter simultaneously, but abruptly stopped when Sam's cell phone began to ring.

"Hello, Sam Winchester." He said and listened intently to whoever was on the other end. "We will be there soon and I know this is going to sound weird, but in the meantime stay in the kitchen and pour a ring of salt around yourself, that'll protect you."

"What is it?" Dean asked as Sam hung up the phone.

"It's someone that I helped a while ago, by myself, and it sounds like he needs help again."

"Is it the same thing as last time?"

"No, last time his fiancée made a deal with a demon and he came to collect his payment."

Dean grimaced, "Please tell me it's not a demon thing, I don't really feel like encountering hell hounds any time soon."

"This sounds like a ghost or vengeful spirit, but he doesn't have the knowhow to stop it."

"Alright, where is he?"

"As luck would have it, which it rarely ever does, he's in the next town over."

The town where they needed to be was another little place off the beaten path, but unlike other places, this one seems to have a younger generation moving in and refurbishing the entire area. Out of the three motels in town, they picked the "worst" one, which turned out to be a lot nicer than what they are used to, but it's still not exactly a five-star establishment. Since things were going well on the car ride over, Quinn didn't want to take any chances and got a room next to Sam and Dean's. It gives Sam a chance to cool off when he needed it and when she wants alone time with Dean, they have a private room to themselves.

"Sam and I are going to check out this guy's house, hopefully this is cut and dry." Dean told Quinn.

"You don't want me to come along too?"

"No, it's best if you stay here, that way we have someone for backup or something."

"Alright, but do be careful, you're not exactly running on a full tank."

"I'll be careful," He said with a little smirk, "Scout's honor."

"You're not a scout."

"Hunter's honor, even better."

"Watch out for him Sam." Quinn said as she walked them to the door.

Sam smiled, "I always do."

"Come back safe, the both of you."

"Promise." Dean said and kissed her once before walking out with Sam.

The location of the little duplex was not too far away from the motel where the Winchesters were staying. They found the front door slightly ajar. Raising their weapons, Sam and Dean entered the house with great caution. Given his haste to get somewhere safe, the victim didn't have the chance to get his living room back in order. By the size of the couch, it was easy to assume that it took some strong force to move it. Finally, they found the victim cowering in the kitchen in the middle of a salt ring and holding onto a crucifix for dear life.

"Hey Easton, you okay?" Sam asked.

"Relatively." The man shakily replied.

"What happened here?"

"I was watching the game and during halftime I went upstairs to take a piss, I thought I saw something in the mirror, but at the time just brushed it off." Easton's eyes were daring around the room, making sure that if anything reappeared he saw it. "Then I came back into the living room and it said something in my ear and before I knew it my couch was moving towards the wall."

"And this is the first time you've had any experiences like this?" Dean asked.

"First time since Whitney died."

"Whitney was the fiancée." Sam whispered to Dean.

"I may be sick, but I'm not stupid." Dean whispered back.

"Anyway, since you knew about all of this when it was Whitney, I thought you'd be the person to call."

"Can you give us a minute?" Sam asked and pulled Dean aside. "Do you think he's safe here?"

"That thing moved a couch." Dean answered very matter-of-factly. "I wouldn't stay here."

"Got any place to go?" Sam asked Easton.

"No, I burned all of my bridges with that Whitney thing."

"I think we should leave him with Quinn." Dean suggested.

"Okay, now it's more of a question of the lesser of two evils." Sam said.

Now, the brothers were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't realize that there was a ghostly figure beginning to form a few feet away from them.

Easton was watching the figure and tried to get their attention, "Guys…"

"It'll be fine and if something goes wrong with the spirit stuff, she can help."

"Guys!"

With a roll of his eyes, Dean lifted his sawed-off shotgun and fired a round through the figure before it had the chance to full materialize.

"She's not going to do anything to him, he'll be fine."

Easton sat in his spot safely in the salt ring with his mouth hanging open. Even after everything that happened with his fiancée, this whole spirit world thing is still a hard pill to swallow.

Sam gave in, "Fine, I trust your judgment."

"About damn time." Dean said. "Easton, do you have anything here from the previous owners?"

"A trunk in the basement full of weird stuff that the family didn't want, I guess."

"We're going to take you to a motel and you're going to stay there with my girlfriend until we finish the job." Dean told Easton, almost as if he were a child.

"Okay." Easton answered in a childlike manner.

Waiting back in the motel room, Quinn was doing research, something that she was trying to keep secret from Sam and Dean. Having Sam and Dean know what she is was a huge weight off of her shoulders, but there are still some things that they can't know about. If they could understand the situation, she would share with them, but for now, it's something best kept to herself. Being that she was elbows deep in research, Sam and Dean bursting through the door with some stranger was rather jarring.

Quinn jumped out of her seat, "Who the hell is that?"

"This is Easton, we're getting a vengeful spirit out of his house and you have to make sure that nothing gets to him." Dean told her as he grabbed a few things out of the motel room, then promptly turned to leave. "We'll be safe, bye."

Neither Quinn nor Easton moved from their spots, "Hi, I'm Quinn."

"I'm Easton."

Saying that this was awkward was an understatement, "Alright then…"

Below the main level of Easton's home was a run-of-the-mill borderline creepy hoarder's basement. There were stacks of boxes that were nearly as tall as Sam and Dean, if Quinn were here she would get lost, and the only true pathway through was one that went from the door to the water heater and other such mechanics.

"Why are basements always a mess?" Dean asked, up to his waist in random cardboard boxes. "And they stuff that you're looking for is never at the front, ever."

Sam stopped looking around, "Yes, let's put this creepy old trunk full of someone else's stuff from a hundred years ago at the front of the room, that makes sense."

"Shut up." Dean said, unable to come up with a better comeback. "Do you think I should be doing this? With my illness and everything."

"If you're well enough to go on this hunt then you are well enough to dig through boxes." Sam answered and got to the back wall, there was a tattered leather trunk below a few other newer cardboard boxes. "Dean, I found the trunk."

"Good, now let's take it out back, burn it, toss some hex bags in the walls, and get back in time for dinner."

Scrambling over the boxes, Dean went back to Sam and helped him drag the trunk to the backyard. Once it was outside they opened it, just to get a peek at what was inside. It turned out to be nothing important, just the random things that a woman would keep around for a long period of time. Since it seemed like this was all that they needed to destroy, Sam tossed the trunk into Easton's fire pit and covered it with lighter fluid. Dean then proceeded to light the trunk on fire. Once it had consumed at least half of the trunk, they went inside to put the hex bags around the house, just to be on the safe side.

Getting back inside Sam and Dean felt something different in the house, the air was thick and heavy, and there was an overwhelming sense of uneasiness. Knowing from experience that splitting up may not be the best way to distribute the hex bags, they put one in each of the walls together. This proved to be a smart move as Dean's condition seemed to be getting worse the longer they were in the house. After the second bag was in the wall they felt a presence descend upon them.

"Great, now we're just pissing it off." Dean said angrily.

Another ghostly woman appeared behind Sam, Dean was surprisingly quick to raise his sawed-off and shot the entity through the chest. With this small window of opportunity, they ran into the kitchen and stood in the small ring of salt. Sam kept watch as Dean reloaded his weapon. That same woman reappeared near them in the kitchen and Sam got a better look at her before Dean shot her through the chest again.

"You take this." Dean shoved the rifled into Sam's hands. "I'm gonna call Quinn."

"She didn't look like she was from the same time period as the trunk, I think this is someone new."

"That's just what we need, told you we pissed it off." Dean said as he put his phone to his ear. "Quinn, is there anything else from the previous owner in the house?"

"Is there anything else from the previous owners in the house?" Quinn asked.

"No, just the one trunk, that's it." Easton answered.

"Just the trunk." Quinn relayed to Dean.

Yet again the woman appeared and just as quickly disappeared, giving Sam no time to react. However, he did get a chance to look at her face and he noticed something, she is nearly identical to Easton's fiancée, but she was drug into the depths of hell by a demon a couple years ago.

"Dean." Sam said, trying to get his brother's attention, but Dean was trying to listen to Quinn and Easton's conversation.

"Give me a brief history of the house." Quinn said to Easton.

Easton was nervous, one reason being that he didn't know what was going on in his house and the other being that he is done with all of this paranormal stuff, "I don't know, the nice little old lady that was there before me bought the place new."

"Did she die there?"

"Yeah."

"Anyone else die in the house?"

"Nope, I think that's it."

"Dean." Sam said again.

"Not now Sam, I'm trying to hear this." Dean replied.

"That's it then?" Quinn asked Easton.

"That's it, I don't know what else to tell you."

"Dean, it's the fiancée." Sam blurted out.

"It can't be, she's…elsewhere." Dean said, choosing his words carefully just in case Easton could hear what him. Something inside told him to believe Sam though, so he went back to Quinn, "Does he have anything from his fiancée?"

"Dean, we both know that's not possible, she's in…" Then Quinn abruptly stopped talking and Dean could faintly hear Easton in the background. "She had a twin!"

"Is she alive?"

"No." Quinn drew out the word.

"Does he have anything from the sister?"

"Anything from the sister?" Dean heard Quinn ask Easton, but he couldn't hear the reply until Quinn told him, "He kept a locket given to Whitney by her sister, he keeps it hanging up in his room."

"I think we got this now, thanks Quinn." Dean said and hung up. "Sam, you go upstairs, there's a locket hanging up in his bedroom, toss it in the fire with the trunk."

"You go get it."

"You can run faster, I'll distract the stupid ghost." Dean took back his rifle and waited until Sam was upstairs to start taunting. "Hey you dumb bitch, it's not his fault that your sister died. She messed with the bull, so she got the horns."

"Don't talk about my sister like that!" A spectral voice hollered and with a great force she trust Dean against the wall before evaporating again.

Dean slowly got up and brought his rifle up, waiting for the woman to come back, "She made a deal with a demon and she had what was coming to her."

Upstairs in Easton's bedroom Sam could hear his brother's struggle with some unseen force. Probably out of sentiment for his lost fiancée, Easton hung the locket off of one of his bedposts. Inside the little silver heart was a picture of the fiancée and her twin sister. Sam ran back downstairs with the locket and threw it into the barely burning trunk fire. At the time he felt bad passing by Dean, who was still physically fighting the ghost. The moment that the necklace hit the fire, the spirit stopped hurting Dean and disappeared. Able to finally breathe, Dean turned over and starred up at the ceiling. Sam walked in and helped his brother off of the floor, but he could tell that between the bad energy in the house and the brutal whooping from the ghost, Dean's energy supply was severely low.

Sam helped his brother up off the ground, "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, let's just get this job done."

Now with the trunk and locket in the fire, Sam and Dean split up to put the final hex bags in the walls, even though it went against some of their better judgment. In the moments following that final and very crucial step, the house felt lighter and more airy. There was nothing in this house that would bother Easton anymore, at least nothing supernatural.

Back at the car Dean felt his eyelids getting heavy, so he tossed the keys to Sam. By the time they got to the hotel Dean had actually nodded off for a minute, but Sam woke him up so they could go inside. Easton was in the fetal position on the spare bed in Quinn's room and she was sitting next to him, doing her best to console him.

"How is he doing?" Sam asked.

"It's been a rough day." Quinn answered.

"Tell me about it." Dean said and collapsed on Quinn's bed.

"Is my house okay?" Easton asked.

"You're house is fine, a few holes in the wall, but nothing a quick patch won't fix."

"Holes?"

"Yeah, we had to put hex bags in your walls, don't take them out." Sam answered. "Easton, what happened to Whitney's sister?"

"They were twins, she couldn't live without Whitney, so she committed suicide a few days after Whitney's death."

"That's probably why she was there, she was after you for Whitney's death." Dean said before covering his face with a pillow.

"Why did she make the deal with the demon anyway?" Sam asked.

"Back in college her boyfriend nearly drank himself to death, so she made a deal that night so that he could survive his hospital stay."

"I'm assuming you were not that boyfriend."

"No, I wasn't, she told me about him, but never what she did to save him." Easton answered. "At least, not until the end."

"It was probably like at our old place, the good spirit was trying to keep the bad at bay." Sam said and though it was tough to tell, Dean nodded underneath the pillow.

"Is that normal?" Easton asked.

"More common than you would think, like everything else spirits can be good or bad and the good will do what they can to keep the bad at bay." Quinn answered.

"So, it's safe for me to go home?"

"It should be." Sam answered.

Without warning Cass appeared in the room and this was such a surprise to Easton that he nearly passed out. He didn't actually faint, but he did freak out and start hyperventilating and mumbling in incoherent sentences.

"Easton, calm down, he's a friend." Quinn said and looked to the other three men in the room. "Why don't you all take this in the other room?"

"I would like to speak with you as well, Quinn." Cass said.

"Alright, I will join you when I get him calmed down."

Together Sam, Dean, and Cass went to the guy's room next door, but left the door open a little bit for Quinn.

"Man, that guy is not cut out for this." Dean said first thing when they got in the room.

"Most people aren't." Sam said. "So, Cass, what's up?"

"Just dropped by to check on you." Cass answered. "How are you feeling Dean?"

"Can't complain."

"Except for the fact that a ghost kicked your ass today, you're fine." Sam said.

"Are you still sick?" Cass asked.

"Well, you did just tell us about this yesterday, that's not even enough time to recover from the flu." Dean answered.

"He hasn't stopped sleeping with Quinn." Sam blabbed to Cass.

"Sleeping with her is not recommended, Dean."

"What am I supposed to do?" Dean asked. "I'm a guy, she's a girl, and we like each other. The rest is what people in our situation tend to do."

"Usually yes, but this is not a usual situation." Sam said. "I mean, do you actually see yourself having a future with her?"

"I don't know, but I don't hate the idea of a future with her." Dean knew right away that this wasn't the answer that Sam was looking for. "You can't be mad at me for this."

"I'm not mad." Sam said, trying to keep his cool. "I'm just…disappointed."

Dean was taken aback, "Disappointed?"

"Yeah Dean, I'm disappointed." Sam answered. "Come you, you were always the one saying that we should never get ourselves into situations like this."

"Well, maybe I was wrong."

"How do you even know that these are your real feelings? For all we know, she could've put a succubus curse on your or whatever it is and is controlling all of this."

"She's not controlling me, she wouldn't do that."

"How do you know?"

"For starters she told us earlier today that she doesn't and the only person I ever felt this way about was Lisa." Dean answered, both he and Sam were surprised that he brought her up. Even Cass was a bit shocked. "I know what those feelings were, Sam, and I never thought that I'd have that again."

Sam started to feel bad for his brother, for still having his doubts about Quinn that he just couldn't seem to shake, "Dean, I'm…"

"Save it."

Even though he was still mad, Sam began to soften a bit, "Whether or not you like it and whether or not she's actually trying, she is effectively killing you, Dean."

"Oh, my ears are burning." Quinn said as she walked into the room.

"Quinn." Sam said, monster or not, he doesn't want to hurt her feelings, especially with the progress they made earlier in the day. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Enough." She answered. "Hey Castiel."

"Hello Quinn." Cass said. "I heard you are still sleeping with Dean."

"Okay, we're just going to jump right on into this then?"

"In case you haven't figure it out yet, Cass isn't one to beat around the bush." Dean said.

"I think it would be wise for you to stop doing that." Cass said, breezing over Dean's comment.

"I'm just going to put this out on the table now." Quinn said calmly. "I understand all of your concerns and this is something that we are figuring out. It takes time and it is a strange adjustment that just needs to work itself out. I am doing my best to try and, how can I put this, find the right dose of medication."

Dean cringed, "Maybe not the best terminology."

"Yeah, but it was the one closest to my point." Quinn said. "Now that we're through with that conversation, there is a man next door that needs a ride home."

"Sam can you take him?" Dean asked. "I'm kind of beat."

"Only if Cass will come along and make sure that the house is clear." Sam answered.

Cass shrugged, he had no qualms about tagging along with Sam to make sure that Easton was safe and sound at home. Besides, Sam is the only one of the three that Cass can seem to get a straight answer from. Sam grabbed the keys and walked out with Cass, it would be easier for Easton if Cass acted like a normal person for the time being.

"Dean, they are right, I am killing you." Quinn said when they were finally alone. "I don't want to and I try to block it, but it is happening."

"You're not killing me, I'm fine." Dean said with a halfhearted smile.

"No you're not."

"Yes, I am." He answered and kissed Quinn.

As things began to get hot and heavy, clothes were removed and cast aside. During the romantic progression Quinn could feel that she was becoming more powerful and in turn Dean was getting weaker, so she stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" Dean asked.

"Because you need your rest." Quinn answered. "Trust me, the best thing for you right now is sleep and fluids that aren't alcohol."

"Okay." Dean said and clung to the woman.

In a matter of moments he was sound asleep, but Quinn couldn't sleep. Her mind was racing with thoughts and fears. When Sam and Cass made it back to the motel, she pretended like she was asleep though.

"Great, they spelt together, again." Sam said.

"At least he's sleeping now, that's what will heal him." Cass said.

"There seriously isn't anything that you can do?"

"I'm afraid not." Cass replied. "The only way that Dean can live is if she either leaves or becomes human."

"Dammit."

"Watch over him Sam, chances are this is going to get far worse before it gets any better."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Call me if you need anything." Cass told Sam before disappearing.

Quinn listened to Sam move about the room, then he walked out the front door. It's likely that he went next door to what is technically her motel room, that way he doesn't have to be here when she or Dean wake up. Grappling with various decisions, Quinn ultimately chose the most difficult of all scenarios.

There was a small bag near the bathroom door that she had stealthily placed there when they arrived, just in case. On the dresser she left a few vials of her blood, a couple of her extra special hex bags, and a recipe and supplies to make more. She decided not to leave a note or any explanation on her departure, because then it felt to permanent. Just as she was about to leave she went back over to Dean, who was still sound asleep.

"I love you." She whispered and gently kissed his cheek.

With tears in her eyes Quinn took one last look at Dean before closing the door on him, for an unknown amount of time, possibly forever. After a few deep breaths she walked down to the main office and had them call a cab for her. Since it was late and this is a small town, it didn't take long for the cab to arrive.

"Where to miss?" The driver asked as he got out of the car and met Quinn.

She pulled a small slip of paper out of her pocket and handed it to him, "Can you take me to this address?"

"It'll take a while and it ain't gonna be cheap, but yes I can."

"Don't worry, I have it covered." Quinn said and pulled a hundred dollar bill out of her pocket. "I know it's going to be more than this, but you will get the rest and a nice tip when we arrive."

"Alright then." He said and put her bag in the trunk.

The cab ride was just one big long awkward silence. There was still no way that Quinn could sleep or do anything for that matter. As morbid as this sounds, all she honestly wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die. Eventually the driver stopped in front of a stately looking home.

"We're here." He said.

Quinn gave him the entire fare and then some, "Keep the change."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Well, thank you." He said and got her bag for her as she got out of the car.

Each step leading up to the house was both a blessing and a curse and Quinn let out a very heavy sigh before knocking on the front door. A light above her flicked on and the door flung open.

Quinn forced a small smile, "Hi mom."

* * *

**I know this doesn't exactly fit in with the music that they have for Supernatural, but the last scene was set to Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran.**

**Now, we're getting to my favorite part of the story and I am really excited. These last couple chapters I felt were necessary to the structure of the story, but it's in the coming few that really develop the big picture of the story. **

**Since I am getting back to a more normal schedule (battling work and insomnia is never a fun thing, I also just started watching Doctor Who and it is quite the time suck in the best possible way,) I should have the next chapter posted by at least Friday. **


	5. Keep on Without You

**This is a fictional story based on the popular television show Supernatural. The characters of Sam and Dean Winchester, along with Castiel, are products of the brilliant mind of Eric Kripke. As is the base story line of two rouge brothers on a cross-country road trip, hunting monsters/demons/anything that needs to be taken care of/etc. and befriending odd angels. However, all new characters introduced in this story including, but not limited to Quinn Gibson, are products of my own imagination and creation; as well as the added story line. I do claim and reserve my rights to these new ideas. All characters are fictional. Any relation to another person, character, or story line are purely coincidental.**

**Sorry this is a bit later than I said, but I promise I'm trying to get better. **

**Now that all of that is over, please enjoy my story.**

* * *

(Paint it Black by The Rolling Stones) It had been two weeks since Quinn left Dean and with her gone he was physically well in a matter of days, but emotionally he was in shreds. In typical Dean Winchester fashion he expressed his rage and general unhappiness through drinking and killing nearly every monster that they came in contact with. When Quinn left it angered him, not just because a woman walked out on him, but this is a woman that he really cared about. All he felt was fury and pain, feelings to which he is no stranger, but there was something different this time.

Quinn on the other hand was trying her best to live a low-profile life. She was living in the little town where she grew up with her parents. She had a menial career as a cashier at the local grocery store and work was the only thing that ever got her out of the house. With each day that passed she started to deteriorate a little bit more. It was a slow process, but between the dark circles in her eyes and the sunken in cheek bones, everyone in town began to assume the very worst. Eventually she even stopped going to work and decided on spending her remaining days in her parents' house.

Breathing in the crisp air, Quinn closed her eyes and let the sun soak into her pores, a sensation that she may only get to feel a few more times. Even though she left things with Dean in one of the worst possible ways, she was at peace and began to accept her ultimate fate. Engrossed in her own thoughts, Quinn didn't even realize that her mother had joined her out on the porch.

"So, are you finally ready to tell me what happened?"

"No." Quinn answered flatly without opening her eyes. Although her relationship with her parents is good, Quinn hadn't felt like explaining the situation; the wound was still too fresh.

"Quinn, honey, you are not looking good, you need to go out."

Quinn again flatly answered with a single word, "No."

"Why not?" Her mother asked, taking the chair next to her. "You don't have to do it often, but you can't go on forever like this, and if you don't do something soon you're going to die."

"Maybe that's for the best." Quinn answered and finally looked at her mother, who could see the pain in her daughter's eyes. "I just don't know how to keep on here without him."

"I see, it was a guy."

Quinn started to tear up, "I fell in love."

"Oh, Quinn." Her mother said gently, taking her daughter into her arms.

"He did too and we tried to make it work." Quinn answered and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "But then he got sick and hurt and I just couldn't stand by and watch it happen anymore."

"What did you do?"

"I left in the middle of the night." Quinn answered. "He's a hunter, so if I would've left with his knowledge he would've followed me."

A look of pure shock spread across her mother's face, "You fell in love with a hunter?"

"I helped them hunt down Blair." Quinn replied. "I had to kill her."

"Quinn!"

"She was killing people left and right mom, if didn't do it, Roxanne would have."

"Well…" Her mother said and briefly thought about the situation. "You are right about that."

"I just wish…" Quinn said and trailed off.

"What?"

"I wish I could be like you."

"Honey, they barely allowed me to change." Her mother said, knowing that this wasn't what Quinn wanted to hear. "There are strict rules, trust me, I asked everyone when you were a baby if they could change you, they all told me there was no way it would work."

"Why do we have so many freaking rules?" Quinn asked.

"Because that's the way things are, that's the way they have always been."

"I hate those stupid rules!" Quinn ran into the house and upstairs to her old room. She fell onto her bed and tried her hardest to keep from crying. At that moment the new cell phone on her bedside table started to ring. It was Roxanne, one of the few people who actually has this number. "Hey Roxanne."

"Quinn, I need your help." Roxanne said. "I have it on good authority that there's a rouge in my new city…"

Quinn stopped her, "Roxanne, I'm not working anymore."

"Do you know who I can call?" Roxanne asked. "I really do not want to move again."

"Actually." Quinn said, thinking for a moment. "I know exactly who you should call."

"Who?" Roxanne asked and the answer brought a smile to Quinn's face.

After days of coaxing, Sam finally got Dean to agree to take a break at home for a little while. Both were looking forward to homemade food, a nice shower, and clean sheets, but Dean never actually admitted this to Sam. Mere miles outside of their bunker, Dean's cell phone started to ring, and immediately they knew they weren't going home today.

Dean promptly pulled the phone from his pocket and when he saw it was an unknown number, he got excited because there's a chance that it could be Quinn, "Hello."

"Is this Dean Winchester?" A woman, who sounded nothing like Quinn, asked.

"Yeah, who wants to know?" Dean's abrupt request caught Sam's attention right away, because it was rather rude.

"Roxanne Loraine, I'm a friend of Quinn Gibson…"

Dean interrupted her, "Wait, you know Quinn?"

"Yes and she told me that if I ever needed help, I should talk to you."

Dean pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car, "What do you need?"

"There is a rouge in our city and he needs to be taken care of."

"Can't you do something about it?" By now Dean figured out that Roxanne is a succubus as well.

"A lady never gets her hands dirty."

"Fine, we'll check it out, where are you?"

"Lexington, Nebraska."

"It'll take a while, we'll call when we get there." Dean then hung up the phone and got back on the road.

"So, I'm guessing we're not going home." Sam said as Dean took an illegal U-turn to get to the other side of the highway.

"Nope, we got a call from Roxanne Loraine."

"You say that like I'm supposed to know who she is."

"She's Quinn's friend."

"Oh," Sam said, drawing the word out, "You think that if we help her she might help you."

"Actually I didn't, but now that you say it, this couldn't hurt."

"So, what are we looking for?"

"A rouge."

"Please tell me it's not the kind of rogue that I'm thinking of."

"She didn't say, but I think it's safe to assume that it is."

"Do you really think this is the best decision, I mean we had three people last time and we still had issues." Sam said, always the more concerned of the two. "You just got better, do you really want to risk getting hurt again?"

"I have to do it for her, Sammy."

"For who, Quinn?"

Unlike when Roxanne said it, hearing Sam say her name was like nails on a chalkboard and Dean winced at the sound, "At the very least maybe our paths will cross again."

"Is that why you've been taking every case that comes our way?" Since Quinn's disappearance, they really haven't talked about her and honestly, Sam has been too afraid to ask about her up until this point. He knew that in due time Dean would say something, but it had to be on his terms, but the cat is out of the bag now.

"Yeah, it happened once before and I figured that it could happen again."

"How do you know that she's still out there?"

"I don't, but I'm hoping that she is."

By the time they had reached Lexington it was the middle of the night and most everyone was asleep, Sam insisted on getting a motel room before meeting up with Roxanne, because even her kind need to rest and they have to as well. But as Sam slumbered in his bed, Dean's mind wouldn't slow down enough for him to even attempt to sleep. Since he had nothing better to do, he set up a meeting with Roxanne, who was surprisingly still up at three in the morning.

This new home wasn't as stately as the one in Cedar Rapids, but it was still quite the establishment. She did manage to move her staff from the old house to this one, because it's hard to find good help that can keep a secret and won't ask questions.

"Miss Loraine, there is a Mister Winchester to see you." The butler said as he walked into her study.

"Please, send him in." Dean walked into the room and even he was amazed at the mass amount of books lining the floor-to-ceiling shelves. "Good evening Mister Winchester."

"Call me Dean." He said and sat down in a chair across from Roxanne. "I was happy to find that you were still awake."

"Our kind, we are nocturnal creatures." She said with a grin. "Dean, we need your help."

"We'll help, but I have some questions that need answering." Maybe, just maybe, if he helps Roxanne with this, she'll break down and tell him where Quinn is.

"I will answer any questions you have to the best of my ability, as long as you make this a safe place for me and mine."

"Fine." This was then followed by a long silence as the two just starred at each other. "Tell me what you know about this thing."

"The situation is very similar to what was going on in Cedar Rapids, however these are all female, not male."

"So that means that it's an incubus."

"Precisely."

"How do you know it's a…what did you call it, a rogue?"

"Because there is no male colony here, just me and my girls."

"Are you sure it's one of them?"

"I have a detective friend here who has been sharing some more classified information." Roxanne said. "Everyone is aged and everyone had a necklace."

"A binding necklace?"

"Precisely and I am just as strict now as I was then, if not more so. There is something going on here and I need it to stop."

"Sam and I will get on this in the morning, it's too late to do anything now." Dean then got up to leave. "You know, this would be easier if we had Quinn."

"I'm sure it would."

"Is there any way that I could…?"

She stopped him right there, "No."

"Great," He said sarcastically, "Then I guess I'll head out."

"Do keep in touch, Mister Winchester." She called out as he left.

"Dean!" He said just loud enough for her to hear.

Sam was still sound asleep when Dean returned to the motel and he wouldn't know until that morning where Dean had been. Just as Dean's head hit the pillow, he was exhausted and drifted off to sleep in a matter of minutes. Most likely, it had something to do with knowing that Quinn is okay, even if he didn't see her, she had to have contacted Roxanne somehow. While it isn't the best situation, knowing that she's safe and alive is a weight off of Dean's shoulders, for the time being.

"Dean, wake up." Sam was trying his best to get his brother out of bed.

Dean rolled over so his back was to Sam, "Five more minutes."

"You've said that three times already, we have to get up and go see Roxanne."

"I already did that." Third time must have been the charm, because this is the most coherent Dean has been all morning.

"When?"

"Like three."

"Okay, but we still have to go talk to the police."

"You go talk to the police, I talked to Roxanne."

"I don't want to do this alone."

"Fine, fine I'm up." Dean sat up in bed. "You know the police are going to be there all day."

"Yes, but we don't want to have another victim on our hands because someone was lazy."

Though he was slow to do so, Dean got ready and left with Sam to see the police. The police station was somber, reason one being that no one had ever really seen murders this gory, nor at this magnitude before, and upon their arrival, Sam and Dean were informed that the former chief of police and lead detective on the case was killed the day after the first murder. Being that this is such a high profile case, Sam and Dean were sent straight to the new chief of police for a discussion.

"Hello, I'm agent Simmons and this is my partner, agent Stanley." Dean said. "We're here to investigate the rash of recent murders."

"Oh yeah, the serial killer."

"Serial killer?"

"Someone killed more than three people in the same manner, that's a serial killer." The chief of police answered. "Come on, you feds ought to know that."

Dean smiled, "We do, it's just…"

"It's a surprise to hear it." Sam finished.

"Yes, it is never an easy discussion to have."

"What can you tell us about the murders?"

"Each one of them was a single woman in town, most were killed in motel rooms, except for the last two."

"Where were they killed?" Dean asked.

"That's the most disturbing part." The chief answered. "An old funeral home that recently closed."

"Well, that's unsettling."

"Are any of the bodies available for us to see?" Sam asked.

"No, they have all been returned to family members."

"Any pictures? Just so we know what we're working with."

"Of course, I'll have the secretary make up some copies for you boys." He then got up and left Sam and Dean alone in the deathly silent office.

"No one ever calls these things serial killers." Dean whispered to his brother.

"Well, it's not incorrect."

"But no one ever says those words."

Sam shrugged, "Maybe they don't always make connections between cases."

"Matilda made those copies for you two." The police chief told them and handed over a manila envelope.

"Great, if anything comes up please call us." Dean said before they left the department.

"Will do, but I hope we don't have to."

"Yeah, same here." Sam said.

Standing at the door to the Impala, Dean looked to his younger brother, "Abandoned funeral home, that's creepy even for one of these things."

"You're right about that." Sam got in the car and Dean quickly followed. "You would think that if they're killing people in a funeral home, they would do something different with the bodies, instead of just leaving them there."

"Well, if it's a rule that they don't kill, maybe they're not sure what to do with bodies when they're done." Dean suggested, he starred off down the road with a furrowed brow. "Man, this would be so much easier if we could at least talk to Quinn."

"It would, but don't get your hopes up."

"I wasn't going to, but that does help, thank you Sam."

"I'm just trying to be realistic Dean."

"Well don't; if there is one thing in this entire world that I can be even remotely unrealistic about, it's her."

Their conversation stopped at that point, Sam didn't know what else to say and Dean wasn't going to listen. Not that there was anything to really talk about. Nothing that Sam could say would change Dean's mind and Dean would do what he had to with or without Sam, who knew that Dean wouldn't be safe without him.

From the outside the funeral home was unassuming, chances are a person wouldn't know this just by looking at it. Especially since there was no sign, but the address was the same one given to Sam and Dean by the chief of police. There were no vehicles nearby and a perimeter check proved that no windows or doors were open; if anyone was staying at the funeral home, they weren't there now. There was no activity in the house either, so their best chance would be a stakeout.

Now, it was still a bit too early for a true stakeout, so they decided to rest up and gather all the necessary supplies to catch the creature terrorizing the young women in this city. As the sun was beginning to set they were up and packing the Impala for the impending fight. Since these things tend to work at night, they just waited and hoped that he didn't kill his victims before getting to the funeral home, then they might be able to save one.

"Did you really mean what you said the other day?" Sam asked as they watched the doors to the funeral home.

"I said a lot of things the other day, you'll have to be more specific."

"That you haven't felt this way about another woman since Lisa."

Dean remembered saying that, but to hear it now is pouring salt into an open wound, "Yes, I did mean it."

Slowly a dark car with tinted windows drove by the Impala.

"Do you love her?"

The question didn't seem to get to Dean, who was fixated on the car as it passed, "Huh?"

"Do you love her?"

Dean watched the car try to stealthily pull behind the funeral home, "No time, looks like we got our guy."

Behind the funeral home they found the car that passed by, but no one was inside. The backdoor was unlocked, so the brothers let themselves into the deathly silent funeral home. There had to be at least one person in here, because there were lights on in the home that was dark all day. However there was no sound anyway, no screams, nothing crashing to the ground, not even any inappropriate noises that accompany two people in the throes of passion.

Upon reaching the basement they could hear a faint muffled sound. In the old embalming room they found a woman taped to the table, still alive, with duct tape covering her mouth, preventing her speech. She was breathing heavily through her nose and her eyes were wide and filled with fear.

"Sam, cover me, I'm going to free her." Dean approached the woman with caution. First thing he did was rip the tape off of her mouth. "My name is Dean, I'm here to help."

"He's still here, he's still here." She mumbled to herself.

"Who's still here?"

"He's still here, he's still here."

"Where is he?" Dean's eyes darted around the room, but he could only pick out Sam.

"Here…he's still here."

"Alright, we're going to get you out." Dean pulled out his knife and cut along the tape holding her to the table. Instead of jumping off of the table, as Dean thought she would, the woman hoped down and cowered underneath it. "You have to get out of here, we know what to do about him."

"I can't, he's still here."

"Sam, get her out of here."

"Are you sure?"

"I can take care of myself, go!"

Sam ran over and grabbed the woman, he basically had to carry her out of the room, she was that terrified. Now Dean was alone, but he was angry enough to take whatever comes his way and make sure that it never crosses his path again. Out of shadows stepped a man that spoke with earlier, the chief of police.

"Well, this is unexpected." Dean said as the man moved towards him.

"Yes, I was told that you two were quick, but I wasn't expecting that."

Dean put the pieces of the puzzle together quickly, "You killed the last police chief, didn't you?"

"No, but I made a deal, they get rid of the police chief and get me a position of power, give me some special abilities that make me irresistible to women, and all I had to do was draw you and your brother to this little city."

None of that made sense, from what Dean understood, incubuses are born, not made through some sort of deal. If this chief of police thinks he's an incubus, he has been tricked by someone. There is no way that this guy is truly an incubus, which can only mean one thing, he's a demon.

Slowly drawing his knife from inside his jacket, Dean walked towards the chief, "What are you, chief?"

"The name's Stan and I'm an incubus." He smiled and turned his eyes, which should have been red, but they were entirely black.

With his knowledge, Dean had the upper hand and he forced Stan up against the wall and put the blade to his throat, "Who's been helping you?"

"You think you can hurt me?" Stan asked.

"I know I can hurt you, I've hurt your kind before."

"You've only encounter one of my kind and she was killed by someone else."

"How do you know about that?"

Stan smiled, "There's a storm coming Winchester."

Filled with fury, Dean stabbed Stan in the heart, killing both the demon and vessel. Walking back into the room, Sam saw his brother sitting next to the body deep in thought. When he got closer he saw part of Stan's shirt lifted up, there was an old wound right near his diaphragm that hadn't healed. If he were alive, it would have killed him.

"He thought he was an incubus, but he was possessed by a demon." Dean told Sam.

"But, how did this all work?"

"I couldn't tell you, but we have to get rid of this body."

"Well, I can think of one way to do it." Sam said and looked over towards the crematory.

Together they moved the body of the dead police chief into the furnace and turned it on. Instead of waiting for the furnace to do its work, they turned it up and waited for the fire to engulf the entire establishment. Before the fire could move into the floors above the basement, Dean drove off with the strange woman in the backseat. By this point she had regained enough of her faculties to tell them where she lived, they dropped her off and went to visit Roxanne, let her know what happened.

"Did that all seem too easy to you?" Sam asked as they drove away from the woman's home.

"Yes, yes it did." Dean answered.

Per the norm, Roxanne was awake when someone needed to have a meeting with her at three in the morning. They recounted the entire story from the moment that Dean left. Making sure to mention that it was not in fact a rouge incubus in her midst, but rather a confused man who was overtaken by a demon.

"So, that's it then?" She asked as the end of the story.

"That's it." Dean answered.

"But everything told me it was an incubus."

"We were thinking the same thing, until I saw his eyes go black." Dean answered. "But whoever made this deal with him knows about everything and we don't know how."

"Do you think it's safe for us?"

"We couldn't tell you."

"Why not just move to a bigger city?" Sam asked. "I'm sure people are less likely to notice you there."

"But it is also harder to track people and keep the good ones in line." Roxanne answered. "I can't imagine what I am going to tell the girls."

"Tell them the truth and to keep a low profile." Dean answered. "There's a string of murders and two dead police chiefs, they're going to be watching everything, especially new people."

Roxanne sighed, "Thank you both for your help."

"You're welcome. If anything else comes up, don't hesitate to give us a call." Dean said.

"What about your questions?" Roxanne asked.

"I think maybe it's better if I don't know." Honestly, he just wants to know where Quinn is and he knew that Roxanne would never give him that information, even if she knew of Quinn's whereabouts.

"I'll tell Quinn that I saw you."

Dean nodded and then got up to leave, "Ready to go Sam?"

"Give me a minute, I want to talk to Roxanne."

"Alright, 'll be waiting in the car." Dean said and walked out.

"What do you want to know?" Roxanne asked when Dean was out the door.

"It's about Quinn…" Sam answered with some hesitation. "Do you think she meant to hurt Dean? Drain him purposefully?"

"No, not Quinn. She would never intentionally hurt someone." Roxanne leaned back in her chair. "I have known Quinn her whole life and her mother for as long as I can recall, this is never the life that either of them wanted."

"Is there really a chance that she could become human?"

"Her mother did, so it certainly is possible, but the probability is…questionable."

"But it could happen?"

"Of course it could."

"Thanks Roxanne."

"No, thank you Sam."

Sam let and joined his brother in the Impala. Neither one spoke, again. For once they were both thinking about how they could possibly get Quinn back, but neither one was coming up with any good ideas. Of course, not knowing where she is or how to directly contact her didn't help. The short trip back to the motel was a long drive and Dean passed out when he got back to the motel.

With his brother unconscious, Sam decided to see if there was any possible way that he could track down Quinn. Shortly before the sun was about to rise, he went out to the vending machine to grab a cold drink. Just as he was putting his change into the coin slot, a needle jabs him in the neck and he collapses onto the ground.

* * *

**Okay, I was a bit premature last time, these next few chapters are going to be good, if not the best. I have been writing and editing this part of the story for a while now. This is the part that I am very excited to share and am hoping to get the next chapter up in a couple days. **


	6. Looks That Kill

**This is a fictional story based on the popular television show Supernatural. The characters of Sam and Dean Winchester, along with Castiel, are products of the brilliant mind of Eric Kripke. As is the base story line of two rouge brothers on a cross-country road trip, hunting monsters/demons/anything that needs to be taken care of/etc. and befriending odd angels. However, all new characters introduced in this story including, but not limited to Quinn Gibson, are products of my own imagination and creation; as well as the added story line. I do claim and reserve my rights to these new ideas. All characters are fictional. Any relation to another person, character, or story line are purely coincidental.**

**Warning there is some slightly graphic content, nothing worse than what they would have on the show, but I felt that a warning is kind. **

**Now that all of that is over, please enjoy my story.**

* * *

In the wee hours of the morning, much earlier than Dean is accustom to, he was shaken from a relatively sound slumber by the rather jarring sound of his cellphone. Without looking at the device he hit the green button and put the it to his ear.

"Dean, I don't have much time, but I need help…" From the tone in Sam's voice Dean could tell that he was terrified. "Listen, you're not going to believe this, but…"

The second he heard Sam's plea, Dean jumped out of bed and started to pull on some nearby clothes, "Sammy!"

"Who are you talking to?" A woman asked followed by a loud crash, her voice was so faint Dean could hardly make out what she was saying. "Well, I'm not surprised."

"Sammy?" Dean asked, even though no one was around to hear it.

Then there was a click and the line went dead, Dean immediately tried to call them back, but it went to voicemail and there was no point in leaving a message. There wasn't even a way to track the phone, since Dean had no idea who the carrier was. None of that mattered though and there was no way that Dean was going to let any of it stop him because he was not about to lose one of the last people on this Earth that he legitimately cared about.

-[earlier that morning]-

Groggy and light-headed Sam awoke to find himself in a room that was vaguely familiar, once his eyes focused he saw that it was the living room in Quinn's apartment. As he tried to move from his spot he found that he was bound to a chair with rope.

"What the hell?" He asked, his voice hoarse and gravely.

That one phrase prompted Quinn to walk into the room, beer in hand, "Oh good, you're up."

"Quinn?" Sam asked, surprised to see her.

"Yeah, let's go with that."

There was a throbbing in Sam's head that became more intense as he fully regained conscious, "Son of a bitch." He was starting to sound like his brother.

"Sorry about the little head wound, I didn't think you'd be that difficult to take down." She sat down in the chair across from him and took a sip of beer. "I mean I factored in some difficulty given your above-average proportions, but it still wasn't quite enough."

"You can't be Quinn." Sam said, succubus or not, she would never do anything like this.

"Sam, Sam, Sam, the last horse finally reached the finish line."

"What did you do to her?" Sam asked and lunged forward, but didn't get very far given the ropes and duct tape holding him down.

"Your little friend Quinn is buried deep within this body, scratching around, trying to make her way to the surface." Quinn answered. "But she can't, she's not strong enough, and that is going to make this that much better."

"What are you talking about?"

"Possession, Sam, she can see everything that's going on right now." Quinn answered. "Come on Winchester, you should know this."

"What are you talking about?"

Quinn put her hands on Sam's forearms and dug her nails deep into his skin, causing him to yell out in pain as they pierced his flesh, "You do know what my kind does to guys like you, don't you Sammy?"

"I'm not Sammy, not to you, and I don't even know who you are." Sam told her, his jaw clenched in an attempt to hold back his emotions.

"Come on, take a wild guess."

"Ruby?"

"Don't know who Ruby is, keep trying."

"Meg?"

"That doesn't really ring a bell either, one more time." Quinn removed her hands and backed away from Sam. "This time I'll give you a little hint; what she is and what I am, it's all basically the same thing or at least it was. Not to mention, you and I have met before."

"Blair."

Grabbing a towel from the kitchen Quinn wiped the blood off of her hands, "Ding, ding, we have a winner!"

Sam was getting tired of the games, "That's not possible, we sent your ass to purgatory where you belong."

"Now Sammy, you and your brother have been to purgatory." She said and moved to the front of him, taking a seat on Quinn's coffee table. "You know as well as I that things can slip through the cracks."

"Not for you they can't."

"Oh, but they can, and being betrayed by your best friend and two idiot hunters is always a good sympathy card in the underworld."

"You were killing innocent people, we had to stop you!"

"But you didn't have to rope Quinn into it!" When she got mad her eyes turned pitch black. "She was my best friend and you had her kill me!"

"She didn't want you doing that either!"

"That doesn't matter!" Blair said and pushed over one of Quinn's end tables out of anger. "Whatever way you want to paint it, the picture is still black and white and Quinn still betrayed me, one of her own kind."

"Quinn is nothing like you, she is a good person." Sam's mouth moved faster than his mind and it took him a second to process what he just told Blair. "I wish I would have realized that sooner because we could have kept her safe and out of your reach."

"I would've gotten to her one way or another."

"Not on my watch." After Sam said and looked right through Quinn's outer shell into Blair's tainted soul.

"It's too bad I could have never had the chance to use you for your intended purpose." Blair said, breaking the gaze. "That much hostility and anger, it would've been fun."

"We never would have gotten that far."

"Yes, I understand that now, but still, a girl is always curious." Blair said and pressed her lips to Sam's. "Such a shame that's all going to waste."

Turning away from her, Sam looked displeased, "I'm not too broken up about it."

"No matter, what's going on between Quinn and Dean should suffice."

"That's gross."

With a sigh Blair rested her head on her hand and squinted quizzically at Sam, "Now what should I do with you?"

"Let me go." Sam offered, hoping she'd take the option.

"Nah, I was thinking I would either kill you quick and let your brother find your corpse, or have him walk in only to watch you die and he can't do anything about it, or lock you in here and kill him somewhere else." Even a monster shouldn't be this excited about killing someone. "Oh, they're all so good I just can't decide."

"You're a monster."

Her eyes turned black as she jumped up and nearly touched her nose to his, "No, I'm a demon."

"Either way, you're not getting out of this one alive, in the end you will be in hell, I guarantee."

"Doubt it." Blair said, circling Sam as if he were prey. "Oh, I could get you back on the dark side, a nice plate of chocolate chip cookies with a tall icy glass of demon blood, fix you right up."

"I won't do that."

"It doesn't matter what you will do, it's what I will do." Blair told him before going into the kitchen.

Sam then noticed that Blair left her phone on the coffee table; he leaned forward in the chair and grabbed it, but doing so caused him to fall all the way down to the ground. Sure it hurt and there is a strong possibility that he at the very least sprained something in his right hand, but he played through the pain and punched Dean's cell phone number into the cheap burner.

"Dean, I don't have much time, but I need help…" Sam hastily tried to get his words out as Blair came back into the room. "Listen, you're not going to believe this, but…"

"Sammy!" Could be heard by both parties as Blair ran over.

"Who are you talking to?" Quinn pushed the chair onto its back and grabbed the phone from Sam's injured hand and saw that it was Dean's name on the screen, "Well, I'm not surprised."

Blair hung up the phone, took it into the kitchen, and put it down the garage disposal. Still grinning from ear-to-ear she came back into the living room and hoisted Sam's chair up on its legs. Silently she sat down across from him and waited.

"Why aren't you scared or moving or something?" Sam finally asked.

"Believe it or not, I am not actually scared of you or your brother, not anymore."

"You had this all planned out, didn't you?"

"No, but I can certainly work with it."

"Dean is going to find us and he is going to save me and Quinn."

"Well, you are right about one thing," Blair said with a smirk, "He is going to find us."

Stealthily she jabbed a small needle into Sam's neck, injecting enough tranquilizer to knock him out for a little while. Then she got to work setting up a scene for the moment when Dean arrives.

Usually not one for traffic laws, Dean sped down the road, pushing his beloved car to the edge. Down the road she began to slow down, even though Dean hadn't touched the break.

"No, no, no, don't do this to me baby."

Even with Dean's coaxing, the car slowed to a crawl before stopping. He got out of the car and popped the hood, she overheated. Usually he has the provisions on board to remedy the situation, but he used the last of his coolant a couple months ago and forgot to replenish his supply and they used almost all of their spare water in a demon hunt last week and the little bit they had left over would never suffice.

Dean knew that there was one last person he could call to in an hour of need, "Cass, I need your help, it's all going crap down here…"

"Say no more." The angel said as he appeared in front of Dean.

"Cass, you are a sight for sore eyes." Dean threw his arms around his friend.

"I missed you too, Dean." Cass said, unfamiliar with Dean's friendliness. "What's going on?"

"The car overheated and I don't have a lot of water or coolant." Dean answered. "We're in the middle of a dirt road with the nearest town miles away in either direction."

"Where is Sam?"

"He's gone, I don't know where, I got a thirty second call from him this morning, it sounded like he was being held against his will by a woman."

"I'll be back." Cass disappeared and returned before Dean's eyes with a large jug of water and antifreeze in hand. "Will this work?"

"That'll work great." Dean answered, by now enough time had passed that the Impala had cooled down enough for him to put the liquids into the radiator.

"How are you feeling today?" Cass asked as he watched Dean work.

"Well, it's emotionally crippling losing your brother shortly after your girlfriend walked out on you; but hey, if there wasn't pain like this in my life, then how in the hell would I know that it's mine?"

"Then you are not going to like what I have to tell you."

Dean put the last of the antifreeze in the radiator and closed the hood of the Impala, "What?"

"Quinn has him."

"What?" Dean repeated.

"Quinn has Sam, I don't when this happened, but I found her and he was there."

"How do you know it's her?"

"Because, I've been keeping track of Quinn."

"You have been keeping track of her and you didn't think to tell me about this?"

"I didn't know she was the one that left, it was more just me popping up for about ten seconds to make sure that she didn't kill you."

There was no time to squabble about this, because by the time the argument ended Sam would probably be six feet under somewhere, "Where is she, Cass?"

"At her apartment in Cedar Rapids."

"Alright, you meet me there, I can't do this alone."

"I can just take you there."

"No way, I don't know what I'm up against here and without our gear I'm useless."

"Whatever you need, I can get, we just need to go now."

"Fine, just let me make sure about one thing." Dean said and checked for his pistol and the demon blade, then nodded towards Cass.

The angel put his hand on Dean's shoulder and they appeared in front of Quinn's old apartment complex. Just as quickly as they had appeared, Cass was gone and Dean, alone, was promptly detained by two large men in black suits with matching soulless black eyes. Little did he know that Cass came back and snuck up behind the two possessed men. He put his hands to the back of their heads and helped expel the demons from their bodies. As a result they fell to the ground, ultimately freeing Dean.

"Thanks Cass."

"You're welcome." He said, but stopped dead in his tracks.

"Cass, what's wrong?" Dean asked as he walked back to his friend. "I need your help with this."

"There are angel sigils, I can't go any further."

"Alright, looks like I'm going at this alone."

"Then I guess I'll wait here."

Dean nodded and did his best to quietly make it up to Quinn's apartment, hoping that whatever is going on, both Quinn and Sam are more or less safe. Of course it didn't help that as he came around the corner, he encountered two more demon men, but this time he didn't have Cass to back him up. He pulled the flask from his pocket and doused them with holy water, it gave him just enough time to pull the demon blade from his jacket and kill them. Another couple demons heard the commotion and came his way, but he pulled the same trick. As he moved through the rest of the floors he kept the holy water and demon blade on hand.

In the apartment Quinn roughly patted Sam's face to wake him up. When Sam came to and saw that she had a knife in her hand, he feared the worst.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, still hazy from the tranquilizer.

"We need to move this along, because our current situation is less than ideal." She answered and with a few quick motions she cut through Sam's restraints, then turned the blade on herself and drove it into her abdomen.

"What the hell?" Sam yelled as he jumped out of the chair, watching someone stab their own body is a very sobering experience.

"Let's see who he chooses, his brother or the woman he loves." Blair said with a devilish grin and then tears began to roll down her face. "Sam stop!"

As Sam watched the scene unfold his confusion intensified.

"Please stop, just leave me alone!" Blair yelled, still crying.

Now Sam heard what Blair could hear all along, Dean coming up to the apartment. Instead of running he just watched Blair's charade.

"Why are you doing this to me?" She asked and lunged at Sam, knife in hand.

Quick on his feet, he blocked her, grabbed the knife, and she fell to the floor. Right as her body hit the ground Dean busted through the door, gun in hand, and caught his brother and former girlfriend in a very compromising position.

"What the hell is going on here?" Dean asked, appalled by the scene.

"Oh Dean!"

"Quinn!" Dean rushed to her side, but kept his gun on Sam the entire time. "Sam, drop the knife."

With a roll of his eyes Sam let go of the knife, "Dean, this isn't want it looks like."

"Sam came here and he was trying to hurt me, but you saved me Dean." Blair was pulling at Dean's heartstrings with her crocodile tears. "My knight in shining armor."

"You have got to be kidding me." Sam muttered.

"It's alright, it's going to be alright." Dean said as he grabbed the nearby bloody towel and handed it to Blair, although he's still unaware of the fact that the woman he's holding only looks like Quinn. "Put that on it and make sure to apply pressure."

"Thank you Dean."

Dean stood up and walked over to his brother, "What the hell Sam?"

"Dean…" Sam started to say.

"Why did you hurt her?"

"He thinks I'm a monster." Blair answered weakly.

"No, I don't."

Dean just shook his head as he went back over to Blair and helped her up.

"You hurt her, the least you could do is help." Dean told Sam.

Reluctantly Sam walked over and steadied the other side of Blair. Together they helped her downstairs, all the while Dean was paying more attention to Quinn than Sam. A fact that Sam was none too happy about, because Dean ended up choosing the woman over him. A fact that did hurt his pride a bit, why didn't Dean chose his brother?

"What happened?" Cass asked as they got to the bottom of the steps.

"Sam stabbed me."

Since he was actually paying attention to everyone in the group, Cass noticed Sam roll his eyes when Quinn spoke. Now, he may not have the best understanding of human idiosyncrasies, but he could tell that something was very wrong with Quinn and Sam knew more than Dean did.

"Cass, we're going to the hospital." Dean told Cass as they helped Quinn into the backseat. "Can you meet us there?"

"Yes." Cass answered before disappearing again.

Dean drove them to the nearest hospital. Even though he did believe that it was Quinn in the backseat, he also noticed that Sam was babying his right hand. He couldn't take his eyes off the road long enough to get a good look, but from just a few glances he could tell that it was injured and it was enough to prevent him from stabbing Quinn with the kind of precision that was used.

Pulling up to the hospital, they saw Cass waiting outside. Both Winchesters were helping Quinn into the hospital, but Cass put his hand on Sam's shoulder along the way and stopped him from going inside with Dean and Quinn.

"What happened to your hand?" Cass quietly asked.

"I fell over in the chair and landed on top of it."

"Here, let me see what I can do." Cass said and touched Sam's forehead, miraculously healing Sam's injured hand. "Before you go in there, what happened with Quinn?"

"She's not Quinn, Cass, it's Quinn's body, but Blair's inside."

Cass muddled over that thought, "But didn't you say that Blair was dead?"

"Yeah."

"Then how is she back?"

"I don't know."

"I'm going to see if I can find something on this." Cass said and left Sam alone outside of the hospital.

Not wanting to just hang out outside of a hospital, Sam walked inside and found Dean speaking with a nurse.

"There he is!" Dean said and motioned Sam over. "This is my brother Kyle, he was just outside parking the car."

"Hello." Sam said, but refrained some shaking hands because his are currently covered in dried blood.

"Were you with your brother all day today?" The nurse asked.

"Yeah, all day." Sam continued the life for Dean, he doesn't want the hospital thinking that it was either of them that did this.

"Then you were with him when you two entered the apartment?"

"Yes ma'am, found her in a pool of her own blood." Sam answered, he would have been surprised if Dean told them anything else. "As far as I can tell, someone broke down the door, most likely in an attempt to rob them, and panicked when he or she realized that there was someone in the apartment."

"And how did you come to that conclusion, Mr. Smith?"

"I'm a detective ma'am, it's what I do." Sam flashed a fake badge that he just remembered was in his pocket, but not long enough for the nurse to notice that the last name wasn't Smith.

"Story checks out, besides I have a job to do." She said. "But if I find out that you two are lying to me, there will be consequences."

"Of course there will be." Dean said before she walked away.

Once all of the questions were answered and Quinn was admitted into surgery, Sam and Dean finally had a little downtime to talk alone. Dean pulled his brother outside, away from any doors or windows, really any place where someone could possibly hear their conversation.

"What was that back there Sam?"

"I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I didn't do that."

"Really? Because it sure as hell looked that way."

"She did that to herself."

"Why would she do that to herself?"

"Because she isn't Quinn."

"What?"

"It's Quinn's body, yes, but Blair's controlling her."

"Blair, as in Quinn's old friend, Blair?"

"Yeah."

"No, that doesn't make sense." Dean started to pace around a little bit. "Quinn took care of Blair, we watched that happen. Now Blair is screwing around in purgatory, there's no way she's coming back."

"I don't know how to explain it Dean, but that's what she told me."

"She told you?"

"Yeah, she told me everything." Sam answered. "In the end she thought that she could force you to choose between her and myself."

"Did she tell you what happened to Quinn?" Dean asked with some hesitation.

"Quinn's still in there, she saw and experienced everything." Sam answered. "Blair told me that she is now a demon."

"Do you know how we could get Blair out?"

"I don't know, it could be a typical demon thing, but if there's anything from what she was left over, it could be different." Sam answered and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I mean I could look into it, but look how difficult it was to find out about all of this in the first place."

"Dammit."

"For starters we could try a normal exorcism, it could work."

"It's worth a shot."

"We should wait though, at least until she's out of surgery and could go home."

"Why?" Dean asked. "For all we know Blair could kill her midway through."

"It wouldn't be wise for us to go in there guns blazing." Sam said. "Besides, Blair won't let her die."

"And how can you be so sure?"

"Because she knows what you and Quinn feel for one another and she wants to use that to her advantage."

"That is disturbing on so many levels."

"When is not?"

"Good question."

On that final note, they went back into the hospital and were immediately met with a nurse.

"You two were the ones that came in with Mrs. Smith, correct?" She asked.

"Yeah, that's my wife." Dean answered.

"Thankfully the wound wasn't too bad, we were able to stop the bleeding and they are finishing the sutures right now."

"When can we go see her?"

"In a few minutes, I will come get you when she's in recovery."

"I know she's not your favorite person right now, but can you go with me?" Dean asked Sam. "Just in case things go south."

"Of course I will." Sam replied

On the operating table as doctors worked to repair the wound, Quinn found herself alone in her mind as a result of the anesthesia. Since she had already been pushed aside since Blair invaded her space, there was a weird state of semi-consciousness for Quinn and the only thing running through her mind was revenge.

Soon the darkness faded and Quinn found herself on a playground, one that she hadn't been to in decades. The real Blair was leaning against the ladder for the slide and Quinn was sitting on one of the swings.

"This is where we met when we were younger, remember?" Blair asked.

"Yeah." Quinn answered.

"Then we became fast friends."

"Isn't that a shocker?"

"Well, it was a carefully executed plan."

"Why are you doing this to me Blair?"

"Because you brought those hunters into our midst and then you killed me." Blair answered. "What is the one thing that we always pride ourselves on?"

"Secrecy." Quinn answered as if she were a small child.

"Damn right secrecy and you blew that entire cover."

"You were killing people."

"I was doing what I had to in order to survive."

"But you never had to kill people." Quinn said as she stood up.

"Like I told you before, it's so much better if you do."

"Is that what you plan on doing to Dean, to Sam?" Quinn asked. "Kill them?"

"Look at how good you were doing just being around Dean." Blair answered. "If I were to kill him, I would be damn near unstoppable."

"I'm not going to let you kill them." Quinn said as she lunged towards Blair, but Blair zapped herself out of Quinn's way and Quinn fell to the ground.

Blair clicked her tongue as she reappeared and walked up behind Quinn, kicking her back down to the ground. "You seem to forget, I have the upper-hand in this Quinn, I am more powerful than you, always have been and always will be."

"There's something that you're forgetting too." Quinn said as she focused on Blair, who in an instant went flying across the park. "This is my mind and my body, you're just visiting."

"You're not going to get me out this way." Blair said as she got back up.

"Doesn't mean I'm not going to try." Quinn said as Blair came over and tried to hit her, but Quinn blocked it and knocked Blair to the ground. "This looks familiar."

"This isn't going to end the same way it did before." Blair said.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Quinn said as she hit Blair, hard.

Back in the hospital room Quinn's eyes flew open and she shot upright. Both brothers jumped out of their chairs and rushed over to the bed.

"Quinn?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." She answered weakly.

"Really Quinn?"

"Yes, but not for long." Quinn looked from Dean to Sam. "I am so sorry about what she did."

"Don't be sorry, I know it wasn't you." Sam told her.

"We're going to make this right, I promise." Dean said.

"Just be careful, she is powerful and you don't scare her."

Dean forced himself to smile, "We've never been afraid of her."

"Dean, I missed you."

"I missed you too." Without thinking he went in for a kiss, but stopped because he didn't know what their boundaries were anymore. "Sorry."

"Don't be." She started to smile, but stopped when Cass appeared. "We have company."

Dean turned to Cass, "What's going on?"

"I think it would be best to converse in private." Cass said.

Dean said and turned back to Quinn. "We'll be right back."

"I'll be here." Quinn said, squeezing Dean's hand once before he let go and left her alone.

Walking into the hallway, they found that they were the only ones around, so it was probably as good a place as any to have a brief conversation.

"I searched for something, but I couldn't find any answers." Cass said, referring to the conversation he was having previously with Sam. "This has to be going on in Purgatory, which is just a little bit out of my sight line."

"If this happened with Blair, do you think it could happen with all of them?" Sam asked.

"No, I think this is something on a case-by-case system."

"So, Blair is in fact a demon?" Dean whispered, just double-checking.

"As far as I can tell, yes. Blair Francis is now a demon."

"Then we can exorcise her and let Quinn get better."

"Quinn is too weak, if you remove Blair now, Quinn will die."

"Heal her, then we can remove her and it's done."

"We can't heal injuries caused by them or done to them, it just cannot be done."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"Wait it out and when she is allowed to come home from the hospital, trap her, and then do the exorcism."

Dean leaned against the wall and ran his hands through his hair. While he was deep in thought and the other two mulled over what to say or do next, a doctor and a few nurses came rushing by and hurried into Quinn's room. With a heavy heart Dean looked to his brother and good friend for some sort of guidance.

Sam understood his brother's queue, "Go, we'll wait right here."

Those that just entered the room surrounded Quinn's bed and as Dean approached, the lone male nurse stopped him a mere foot and a half away from Quinn.

"Sir, we need you to step back."

"But, but that's my wife!"

"We understand sir, but we need you to step back into the hallway."

"Let me see her!" Dean tried to get by, but the nurse was stronger than he was and held him back.

"It is for your safety and hers that you step outside and let us do our job."

"All clear!" The doctor said in the background, applying the defibrillator paddles to Quinn's chest. A jolt of electricity shot through her body, which reacted with a quick jump.

Realizing that Dean wasn't going to budge, the man gave up and went back to helping the other nurses and the doctor. All of the work they did went by in a blur, the entire time Dean just starred at them, dumbfounded, with his mouth hanging open. Finally he heard the telltale sign of life, the heart rate monitor's rhythmic pulse. Nearly in tears he tried to approach her, but was stopped by the same man.

"Come on, she's fine now." Dean told him.

"She's not out of the woods yet, give us a chance to make sure everything is fine and we'll come get you when she's done."

Back in the hallway Sam and Cass awaited Dean's word. Judging from the somber look on his face as he walked out of the room, they could tell that the news wasn't good.

"I don't know what happened." Dean admitted.

"Your wife coded Mr. Smith." The doctor said as he walked up behind Dean. "She's fine and resting now, you can go in and stay with her if you want, but I'm afraid that we will have to keep her here a few more days for observation."

"What happened? Why did she…code?"

"It's hard to say, the stab wound was deep, but it didn't hit any major organs or arteries. Unlike a bullet, the knife didn't go in and bounce around. All in all there is nothing related to her injury that would likely cause this."

"That would be why you're keeping her a few extra days." Sam said.

"Precisely."

"Thanks for this, doc." Dean said and shook the doctor's hand.

"You're welcome, we'll take good care of her Mr. Smith."

Sam, Dean, and Cass waited in the hallway until all of the nurses cleared out. Inside the room Quinn was lying in bed, still awake. Initially everything seemed alright, but as Dean got closer he could tell that something was off. When Quinn grabbed his hand it felt different and when he looked into her eyes, he knew that it wasn't Quinn, not anymore.

"You doing okay?" Dean asked, trying to put on a brave face.

"Getting better." Quinn answered.

"Good, you scared me there for a minute."

"I'll try not to let it happen again."

"Why don't you try to get some shut eye, I'll wait here."

"Alright." She replied and snuggled into the hospital bed.

"If you two want to head out that's fine, I'm going to wait here with her." Dean told Sam and Cass.

"I'll be in touch." Cass said before disappearing again.

"I'll wait here with you." Sam then lowered his voice to a whisper, "Just in case you need backup."

Hours were spent with Quinn or more appropriately Blair masquerading as Quinn. Most of the time she was sleeping, whether it's Quinn or Blair, the body still needs to heal. Although it had to come to an end, one of the nurses quietly walked in and saw Dean sleeping with his head on Quinn's bed like a student on asleep on a desk. Sam was still awake, reading one of the newspapers provided to visitors.

"Mr. Smith, visiting hours are over."

Sam woke his brother, "We have to go."

"Alright, if something happens you'll call, right?" Dean asked the nurse.

"Of course Mr. Smith."

"Thanks." Dean said before walking out of the hospital with Sam.

It should come as no surprise that Dean wanted to stay in the city to be close to Quinn. During the drive to the hotel Dean was quiet and deep in thought. Upon their arrival at the motel, he didn't get out of the car right away and neither did Sam.

"I swear Sammy when this is done, after we get Quinn back and Blair is gone; I am taking her and we are going away and that will be it, I will leave this life for good."

"Really?" Sam asked, a little bit surprised.

"I'm done man and soon I'm gonna have her back and that means that I have something to stick around for." Dean answered and smiled. "I have another shot at that apple-pie life and I am taking it this time, no looking back."

"No looking back?" Sam asked.

"And I would suggest that you do the same." Dean answered.

"Dean, we've said this all before, that we would get out of the life, but…" Sam said.

"But nothing Sam, not this time." Dean said. "I want us to be in our sixties, sitting in a backyard, watching grandkids or something run around. I don't want to die now and I sure as hell am not going to turn out like Rufus or Bobby, don't get me wrong, they were good guys, but I don't want that."

"It's noble Dean, but what about the family business?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it can be my problem anymore. If I know she's around I'm just going to half-ass it and that's not fair to us or to the people that we're trying to help."

"I can't do this without you Dean."

"Then don't, like I said, you should do the same." Dean replied. "Hell, come with us, I don't care."

Sam didn't know exactly what to say, this isn't the first time that either of them have made this sort of claim, but he could tell that Dean was serious this time. Something inside him broke when he couldn't have a life with Lisa and now he might be able to get that back. Sam was telling the truth, he can't do this without Dean, so maybe it is time to hang it up or pass the torch, whatever it is that they have to do.

There they waited, both contemplating the future in the Impala in a parking lot for a motel in the middle of Iowa. Both had a taste of the world oblivious to the terrible things that go bump in the night, but it always seems to come crawling back. Usually this happens after someone comes crawling out of the depths of some underworld, but maybe if they both stop and cut off all ties, they can actually try to have a normal life. It sounds great in theory, but as they sat in the Impala they wondered if it could ever actually work; would they ever be able to truly escape this life?

* * *

**I hope people are enjoying the story. ****Since the next chapter is already about half written, it should be up shortly. **


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